EVALUATION OF TOTAL POLYPHENOLS CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THE CHAMOMILE BEVERAGE WITH DIFFERENT SWEETENERS ADDING

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the influence of some sweeteners adding on sensorial characteristics (appearance, consistency, colour, smell and taste), and some physico-chemical indicators (acidity, total soluble solids, total polyphenols content and antioxidant activity) of the chamomile soft drinks. The parameters were evaluated at 7 and 14 days respectively. These fermented soft drinks were obtained from chamomile flowers, bran, lemon juice and four types of sweeteners: white sugar, brown sugar, bee honey and Stevia rebaudiana dried leaves. The sensorial evaluation was by hedonic scale from 1-5 points. From sensory point of view, the version with bee honey was the best appreciated (average 4.42 points) by evaluators, followed by the one with brown sugar. Acidity was determined by titration with NaOH 0.1 n, the lowest value of acidity being recorded in the version with Stevia rebaudiana (7.5 ? 0.71 acidity degrees). The total soluble solids content was determined by the refractometric method, and the highest content was recorded in the version with white sugar (44.26 ? 3.65 Brix degrees). The antioxidant activity of the chamomile drink samples was evaluated using the CUPRAC spectrophotometric method, and the total polyphenols content was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The results of our study show that the best antioxidant activity (470.18 ? 0.8 mg Trolox/l) and the highest polyphenols contents (1.245? 2.57 ?mol gallic acid/ml) were registered in the variants with honey as sweeteners.