Effect of drying method and solvent type on antioxidant properties and chemical composition of sacred fig (Ficus religiosa)

Due to detrimental effects of synthetic antioxidants, application of natural antioxidants which mainly are extracted from botanical sources, in addition to stabilizing food products will reduce undesirable effects of free radicals and synthetic antioxidants. In this research effect of drying methods and solvent type were evaluated on chemical composition and antioxidant activity of sacred fig. at first fruits were dried in oven (40 and 60 °C) and microwave (400 and 700 W) and two solvents of methanol and ethanol were used for extraction. Total phenol and flavonoid content were measured with folin ciocalteu and aluminum chloride methods respectively. Antioxidant activity were measured using DPPH and ABTS methods. Results showed that the lowest IC50 value was for 60 °C oven and methanol solvent (150.11 ppm for DPPH and 222.9 ppm for ABTS) and the highest value was observed in 400 W microwave and ethanol solvent (455.145 ppm in DPPH and 500.1 ppm for ABTS). The highest total phenol and flavonoid content was seen in extract of 60 °C and methanolic solvent (1032 mg GAE/g extract and 63.31 mg QE/g extract).