Antioxidant properties and their bioaccessibility of Blessed Thistle under different processed treatments

Abstract

Blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus L.) is a wild plant, native to the Mediterranean region of Europe, and has been naturalized throughout the United States and Europe. Leaves, stems and flowers of blessed thistle has been used as a “bitter” tonic to stimulate appetite, enhance bile secretion, strengthen the liver, diminish jaundice, decrease flatulence, aid digestion. This plant is also used as a flavoring agent in alcoholic beverages. In addition the roots of blessed thistle are eaten cooked in Turkey. Most research has focused only on the antioxidant properties of different alternative wild plants. However, it is necessary to know the bioaccessibility of antioxidative compounds to evaluate their biological activity in body. Bioaccessibility studies are affected several factors, especially food processing related factors. In this study, extractable and hydrolysable extract of blessed thistle was used to investigate the effect of processed treatment (frozen and boiled) on its antioxidant properties and their bioaccessibility. Antioxidant capacity was assessed by CUPRAC, ABTS, and DPPH methods. Antioxidant capacities of fresh samples were found high level in all tested methods. Although the total phenolic accessibility is too high level, the antioxidant bioaccessibility of samples were low level. This Project was supported by Uludag University Scientific Research Committee (Project No: 2011/26).