Evaluation of Phenolic Contents and Antioxidant Potential of Methanolic Extracts of Green Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)

Lipid peroxidation in fats and fatty foods not only deteriorates their quality, but also generates free radical and reactive oxygen species which are implicated in carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, aging and cardiovascular diseases. The present project is undertaken to measure the antioxidant potential of methanolic extracts of green cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum). Green cardamom showed the total phenolic contents from 0.317 +/- 00-1.66 +/- 0.05 g/100 g; total flavonoids from 11.33 +/- 0.03-4.63 +/- 0.12 g/100 g. Antioxidant activities of the extracts were determined using thiocyanate method and percentage inhibition of peroxidation was 84.2-90 %. Significant (p < 0.05) differences were observed in the antioxidant efficacy of green cardamom extracts within the different solvent concentration. These results showed that green cardamom can be used as a significant source of natural antioxidants.