Antioxidant properties of sugarbeet fibers

Abstract

The present study estimated the physico-chemical characteristics of sugarbeet fibers obtained from sugarbeet by extraction with sulfurous acid (untreated fiber - UTF), fiber treated with hydrogen peroxide solution (treated fiber - TF) and commercially available Fibrex®. In addition, the antioxidant properties of ethanolic extracts from above the mentioned fibers were tested using: Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, antioxidant activity/β-carotene bleaching test (AOA), chelating activity on Fe2+ and Fe3+/Fe2+ reducing power. The results obtained clearly show that the ethanolic extract from TF demonstrated the lowest antioxidant activity in all the assays, with the exception of chelating activity. However, TF possessed the most favorable physico-chemical characteristics. In order to provide multifunctional activity of TF, optimization of production procedure has to be considered.