EXTRACTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF ANTIOXIDANTS FROM THE SPICE AFRAMOMUM-DANIELLI

Successive extractions with diethyl ether and methanol of the whole se eds of the spice Aframomum danielli yielded diethyl ether extract (ADE E), 13.9%, and methanol extract (ADM), 3.4%, respectively. Similarly, reextraction of the defatted seeds of A. danielli successively with di ethyl ether and methanol yielded extracts DFADEE (7.9%) and DFADM (6.7 %), respectively. When these extracts were added to refined peanut oil (PNO) at 200 ppm, they showed good antioxidative effects. The percent age antioxidant effectiveness (AE) values were as follows: DFADM (87.3 ) > ADM (85.3) > ADEE (83.4) = tert-butyl hydroquinone (83.4) on day 2 0 of storage in an oven maintained at 65 +/- 1 degrees C. Generally, a ntioxidant extracts prepared from A. danielli were also more effective than butylated hydroxytoluene and a-tocopherol in stabilizing refined PNO. Antioxidant components of A. danielli were tentatively identifie d as phenolic compounds of the trihydroxy type with reducing propertie s. All extracts prepared from A. danielli showed strong ultraviolet-ab sorbing characteristics, and methanol was a good extracting solvent.