ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY, THE CONTENT OF TOTAL PHENOLS AND FLAVONOIDS IN THE ETHANOL EXTRACTS OF Mentha longifolia (L.) HUDSON DRIED BY THE USE OF DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES

In this study, we have examined the yield of extracted substances obtained by means of extraction using 70% ethanol (v/v), the content of total phenols and flavonoids, as well as the antioxidant activity of the extracts obtained from the samples of the herbs dried by means of different techniques. Wild mint Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson was dried naturally in a laboratory oven at a temperature of 45 degrees C and in an absorptive low temperature condensation oven at 35 degrees C. The highest yield of extracts was obtained from the naturally dried herbs and the lowest from the herbs dried in the low temperature condensation drying oven. The content of total phenols and flavonoids was determined by spectrophotometric methods with an FC reagent and by the complexation reaction with aluminium chloride, respectively. The extract of the naturally dried herbs had the highest overall content of phenols (113.8 +/- 2.0 mg of gallic acid/g of the dry extract) and flavonoids (106.7 +/- 0.3 mg of rutin/g of the dry extract). The highest antioxidant activity determined by the FRAP and DPPH assay was determined in the extracts obtained from naturally dried herbs (2.76 +/- 0.15 mmol Fe2+/mg of the dry extract and EC50 = 0.022 +/- 0.001 mg/ml), while the lowest was obtained from the extracts of herbs dried in the laboratory oven (1.13 +/- 0.11 mmol Fe2+/mg of the dry extract and EC50 = 0.033 +/- 0.001 mg/ml). The HPLC-DAD analysis results showed that the greatest content of phenolic compounds was found in extract obtained from naturally dried plant material. The dominant phenolic component in the all extracts is Kaempferol 3-O-glucoside. The contents of all phenolic compounds strongly depend on the drying conditions.