The antioxidant capacity of 12 different types of dry spices was determined using the following methods for each of them: the ORAC method, a recent biosensor method and the OXY-Adsorbent test. Furthermore, a biosensor method for the measurement of the polyphenol pool was also applied. The d-ROMs test for the measurement of hydroperoxides and a well known spectrophotometric test for the measurement of lipoperoxides were also applied to evaluate the presence of prooxidant species in the samples examined. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.