EVALUATION OF ANTI-OXIDANT PROPERTIES OF WHEAT GRASS POWDER AS AFFECTED BY DIFFERENT DRYING PROCESSES

EVALUATION OF ANTI-OXIDANT PROPERTIES OF WHEAT GRASS POWDER AS AFFECTED BY DIFFERENT DRYING PROCESSES

Pallavi Singh

Junior Research Fellow, Department of Foods and Nutrition, Ethelind School of Home Science, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT: Wheatgrass is one grass that has been demonstrated to be of particular use to humans as a nutritional source of vitamins, enzymes, minerals, trace minerals and chlorophyll in addition to its various health benefits. Wheat grass in powder form is a method for preserving wheat grass nutrients with long shelf life and use of wheat grass powder is more convenient than wheat grass juice. Objective: To estimate the antioxidant properties of wheat grass powder obtained by different drying methods. Research Design: Different drying methods used for preparation of wheat grass powder were 1) Hot air oven drying [50˚C, 6 hr and 60˚C, 5hr] 2) Microwave drying [600W, 15 min and 800 W, 10 min] 3) Vacuum oven drying [50˚C, 25kPa, 6 hr]. For estimation of the antioxidant properties of wheat grass powder samples, chlorophyll content, Total Phenol Content and % Anti-Radical Activity were measured. Result: In the quantitative analysis of antioxidant component, microwave dried wheat grass powder samples [600W, 15 min] had highest mean value of total phenol content (25.20), chlorophyll (23.33) and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryllhydrazyl scavenging ability (58.29) in comparison with the other samples of the wheat grass powder obtained by hot air oven drying and vacuum oven drying. Thus it was observed that microwave drying method was the best in comparison to other methods to prepare the wheat grass powder and utilize it daily life.

Wheat Grass Powder,

Chlorophyll, Antioxidant Properties

INTRODUCTION: The mature sprouts of Wheat seeds (Triticumaestivum) known as Wheat Grass and it is one grass that has been demonstrated to be of particular use to humans as a good nutritional source. Wheatgrass is a good source of calcium, iron, sodium, potassium, and magnesium, as well as trace minerals, all B Vitamins, pro-Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and Vitamin K. In addition, wheatgrass has seventeen amino acids, eight live enzymes, and chlorophyll ¹.

Wheat grass in powder form is a method for preserving wheat grass nutrients which consistently achieving protein assays exceeding forty percent and which also has optimally high levels of live enzymes and readily absorbable minerals as well as trace minerals for use in maintaining good human health and enhanced resistance to disease ².

Wheatgrass contains an abundance of chlorophyll and structure of chlorophyll is similar to that of hemoglobin, which makes it possible for our body to convert chlorophyll into hemoglobin. So chlorophyll increases the hemoglobin index in human body, which makes it the best choice for treating anemia. In addition, chlorophyll and % anti-radical activity of wheat grass is more powerful than any other remedies in helping the human body resists carcinogens. It strengthens the functions of liver, neutralizes toxic compounds as well as eliminates toxins in blood ³.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Procurement of raw material:

The wheat grass leaves grown indoors in the mud pots and it was cut when the wheatgrass growth was at the first node stage having length of 10-12 inches, known as pre-jointing stage.

Experimental Site:

Research Laboratory of the Centre of Food Technology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad.

Method of preparation of wheat grass powder: The fresh wheat grass leaves was collected for washing, sorting, cutting and grading to remove micro-organism and dirt. After that leaves were dried by different drying methods i.e. hot air oven drying (50˚C, 6 Hour and 60˚C, 5hr), microwave drying (600 W, 15 min and 800 W, 10 min) and vacuum oven drying (50˚C, 15lb, and 7hr). Dried leaves grinded in powdered form and stored for the analysis.

Chemical analysis:

The anti-oxidant activity of wheat grass powder were analyzed by % anti-radical activity estimation by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryllhydrazyl method, Total phenol content estimation by mg gallic acid equivalent/g dry weight method and chlorophyll content estimation by Arnon (1949) ⁴ method. Statistical analysis of the data- F- test was applied for analysis of variance to find the significant difference in the means of the sample.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

TABLE 1: AVERAGE CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT (mg/100g) OF WHEAT GRASS POWDER OBTAINED BY DIFFERENT DRYING PROCESSES

*Significant p ≤ (0.05)

The data illustrated in the above table shows that Fcal (12.56)>Ftab (3.48), then there is significant difference in the mean scores of the chlorophyll content in the samples of wheat grass powder obtained by different drying process. It is evident from the ANOVA table that the mean score of chlorophyll content of wheat grass powder prepared by microwave drying [600W, 15 min] is the highest (322.3) and is significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than the wheat grass powder obtained by microwave drying [800 W, 10 min.] (310.6), hot air oven drying [60˚C, 5hr] (306), vacuum oven drying [50˚C, 15lb, 6 hr] (295) and hot air oven drying [50˚C, 6hr] (279). In a similar study, it has been observed that the average chlorophyll content of the wheat grass was 540 mg/100g ⁵.

The data illustrated in the above table shows thatFcal (12.56)>Ftab (3.48), then there is significant difference in the mean scores of the % anti-radical activity in the samples of wheat grass powder obtained by different drying process. It is evident from the ANOVA table that the mean score of % anti-radical activity of wheat grass powder obtained by microwave drying [600W, 15 min] is the highest (58.2) and is significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than the wheat grass powder prepared by microwave drying [800 W, 10 min.] (55.5), hot air oven drying [50˚C, 6hr] (53.9), vacuum oven drying [50˚C, 15lb, 6 hr] (49.9) and hot air oven drying [60˚C, 5hr] (33.0).

TABLE 2: AVERAGE % ANTI-RADICAL ACTIVITY (PERCENTAGE) OF WHEAT GRASS POWDER OBTAINED BY DIFFERENT DRYING PROCESSES

*Significant p ≤ (0.05)

TABLE 3: AVERAGE TOTAL PHENOL CONTENT (mg G.A/gm) OF WHEAT GRASS POWDER OBTAINED BY DIFFERENT DRYING PROCESSES

*Significant p ≤ (0.05)

The data illustrated in the above table shows that Fcal (12.56)>Ftab (3.48), then there is significant difference in the mean scores of the total phenol content of different samples of wheat grass powder obtained by different drying process. It is evident from the ANOVA table that the mean score of total phenol content of wheat grass powder obtained by microwave drying [600W, 15 min] is the highest (25.2) and is significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than the wheat grass powder prepared by microwave drying [800 W, 10 min.] (24.7), hot air oven drying [50˚C, 6hr] (24), vacuum oven drying [50˚C, 15lb, 6 hr] (24.5) and hot air oven drying [60˚C, 5hr] (23.3).

FIG.1: ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF WHEAT GRASS POWDER SAMPLES

CONCLUSION: From the results summarized above, it can be concluded that in the quantitative analysis of antioxidant components, microwave dried wheat grass powder samples had the highest value of chlorophyll, total phenol content and DPPH scavenging activity while hot air dried sample had lowest value among all the samples of wheat grass powder obtained by different drying methods. So microwave drying is best method for preparation of wheat grass powder which is beneficial for the treatment of various degenerative diseases of humans.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: I want to acknowledge my Advisor Mrs. Reena Chaturvedi and Co-Advisor Mrs. Ena Gupta for guiding me during my project work and my friends and family members who encouraged me a lot for completion of this research work. I also want to thank the Editor, IJPSR who published my research paper in their journal which gives identification to my research work.

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How to cite this article:

Singh P: Evaluation of Anti-Oxidant Properties of Wheat Grass Powder as Affected by Different Drying Processes”. Int J Pharm Sci Res 2016; 7(2): 852-55.doi: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.7(2).852-55.

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