NUTRIENT ANTIOXIDANTS IN OREGANO

Oregano and its various extracts have been studied as inhibitors of au toxidation but so far the research work has focused mainly on the pola r non nutrient compounds. Very little is known about the non polar fra ction extracted by hexane which is also antioxidant and has been repor ted to suppress the mutagenicity of Trp-P-2, a dietary carcinogen. In this work four different species of oregano, Origanum vulgare subsp. h irtum, Satureja thymbra, Origanum dictamnus and Origanum onites, were extracted with hexane. The extracts were saponified and in the unsapon ifiable fraction thin layer chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography were-applied for the isolation, detection and determin ation of tocopherols. The four known homologues of tocopherol, alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-, were found to be present in all the samples but the concentration of the gamma-homologue was significantly higher . Total tocopherol content ranged from 288 ppm to 672 ppm.