Table 2.
Antioxidant activity of essential oils (EOs) of peppermint, native spearmint, and Scotch spearmint, measured by chemical-based antioxidant activities assays.
| Assay 1 | EC50, mg/mL | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Peppermint EO | Native Spearmint EO | Scotch Spearmint EO | |
| DPPH scavenging capacity | 70.29 ± 4.59 c | 86.51 ± 5.45 b | 109.8 ± 6.70 a |
| TEAC assay | 29.51 ± 1.30 b | 45.74 ± 1.71 a | 44.38 ± 1.67 a |
| Reducing power assay | 22.7 ± 1.66 | 23.39 ± 2.66 | 22.91 ± 2.35 |
a,b,c Within a row, means without a common superscript letter are different (p < 0.05). Data are least squares means of 6 observations per treatment. 1 TEAC = Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, FRAP = ferric reducing antioxidant power, EC50 = half maximal effective concentration, DPPH = 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl.