Food & Nutrition

Arab Journal of Food & Nutrition
94. The Levels of Phenolic Compounds, Anthocyanin, Antioxidants Activity,
Gross Chemical Composition, Minerals Concentration and the Microbiological
Status of Spices Marketed in Jordan (2007)
Sufyan Hussein Tashtoush\ Jordan University of Science & Technology
Supervisor: Dr. Khalil Ereigej
Spices and herbs are regarded as some of the essential types of food additives
that enhance the flavor and inhibit the oxidation of foods. Ten kinds of spices
marketed in Jordan, about 500 g of different spices; (cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger,
green cardamom, turmeric, sumac, cinnamon, sweet cumin and sweet laurel) were
grounded to pass 0.5 mm sieve and kept at 4°C in the plastic bags. All spices were
subjected to chemical composition, minerals analysis, microbiological testing, and
investigation for their phenolic compounds and anthocyanins concentrations; also the
antioxidants activity of the extracted phenolic compounds was investigated using
synthetic compounds as standards. The influence of different extractants and different
temperatures on the concentrations of phenolic compounds and anthocyanins was
examined. Types and concentrations of phenolic acids were evaluated in this study
using RP- HPLC. The gross chemical analysis indicated that cumin had the highest
levels of protein (21.1%) while sumac had the lowest levels of protein (2.9%).
Furthermore, the fat concentration was in its highest levels in sumac (19.7%) and was
in its lowest levels in cinnamon (1.7%). The ash content ranged from 4.5% (cinnamon)
to 10.2% (green cardamom). The fiber content was the highest in turmeric (59.2%),
cumin had the least fiber (25.7%). Finally, the carbohydrate levels ranged from 4.5%
(sweet cumin) to 31% (cloves). The minerals analysis results showed that copper,
manganese, iron, phosphorus and zinc were found in low concentrations in spices. On
the other hand, calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium were found in high
concentrations in spices. The microbiological tests demonstrated that in coriander and
green cardamom there was a growth for yeast and mold. In addition, cloves and sumac
indicated antimicrobial property; other spices had moderate and acceptable plate count
and aerobic sporeforming bacteria. The total phenolic compounds analysis had been
experimented for three main temperatures (20, 40 and 60 °C) using three different
extractants (methanol, ethanol and acetone). Cloves had the highest levels of total
phenolic compounds for most temperatures when applying the methanol extractants.
Moreover, for ethanol and acetone extractants, cloves and sumac indicated the highest
concentrations of total phenolic compounds as experimented at (20, 40 and 60 °C).
Anthocyanins content analysis at three variant temperatures (20, 40 and 60 °C) using
three different extractants (acidified methanol, acidified ethanol and acidified acetone);
at 20 °C, for the acidified methanol and acidified ethanol extractants, sumac and
cinnamon had the highest levels of anthocyanin while for the acidified acetone the
cinnamon indicated the highest amount of anthocyaiin at 40 °C, for the acidified
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Volume 117 11, No. 25, 2011