Total phenolics contents, total flavonoids contents and antioxidant capacities of commercially available Korean domestic and foreign intermediate food materials

Commercial Korean domestic and foreign intermediate food materials (IFMs) of blueberry, Aronia, oat, sweet pumpkin, and ginger were purchased to compare their functional properties, including total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), total anthocyanin content (TAC), and antioxidant capacity. Each IFM was extracted using 80% (v/v) methanol for the analyses. The TPC (mg gallic acid equivalent/100 g dried sample) and TFC (mg catechin equivalent/100 g dried sample) levels in domestic blueberry (TPC, 2,916 ± 200; TFC, 1,327 ± 31) and sweet pumpkin (TPC, 476 ± 20; TFC, 23 ± 32) IFMs were significantly higher than those in the foreign IFMs. In the case of TAC (mg cyanidin-3-glucoside/100 g dried sample), the level in domestic blueberry IFM (949 ± 57) was significantly higher than that in the foreign product. Among the domestic IFMs, the antioxidant capacities (mg Vitamin C equivalent/100 g dried sample) of blueberry, sweet pumpkin, and ginger were 7,057 ± 321, 311 ± 8, and 3,321 ± 109, respectively, being significantly higher than those of their foreign counterparts, based on the ABTS radical scavenging assay. In the DPPH radical scavenging assay, foreign Aronia (12,667 ± 437) and ginger (2,067 ± 99) IFMs showed significantly higher levels of free radical scavenging activity than did the domestic IFMs. These results provide basic information regarding the functional properties of Korean domestic IFMs, compared with their foreign counterparts.