Figure 8. The combined OSA of saliva, whole blood and Quercetin.

Saliva (20 µL) was mixed either with RBC (5×106), quercetin at 10 µM or with combinations among all 3 agents. Note that while neither saliva at very low OSA nor quercetin had any substantial luminescence-quenching abilities, RBC induced a typical bell-shaped pattern of luminescence quenching [15]. However, combinations of RBC and quercetin enhanced luminescence quenching which was nearly maximal when all 3 agents were mixed together. The data imply that RBCs act as potent amplifiers of luminescence quenching a very useful method to detect small amounts of polyphenols. (n = 3).