Drying condition affects total phenol contents and antioxidant activities of hizikia fusiformis

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of drying methods on the polyphenol contents and antioxidant activities of Hizikia fusiformis. The seaweed was dried using four different conditions: vacuum drying (VD) at 20°C and 30°C and hot-Air drying (HD) at 40°C and 60°C. After drying, the total phenol content, DPPH and nitrite scavenging activities of the water extracts were determined. The total phenol contents were significantly (p<0.05) higher in the vacuum dried samples than the hot-Air dried samples. DPPH radical was scavenged 82.67% and 83.45% by VD-20 and VD-30, and 70.44% and 71.23% by HD-40 and HD-60, respectively. At pH 1.2, Hizikia fusiformis scavenged 87.43%, 88.45%, 72.14% and 73.45% of nitrite by the treatment VD-20, VD-30, HD-40 and HD-60, respectively. Interestingly, the nitrite scavenging activity was much more reduced at pH 3.0 than at pH 1.2. Through these experiments, we were able to show that the drying conditions affect the total phenol contents and antioxidant capacities of Hizikia fusiformis.