Abstract

Antioxidants protect living organisms from free radicals, as well as prevent the destruction of lipids and other nutrients. Natural alternatives to synthetic antioxidants can extend the shelf-life of food products and improve consumers’ health. Extracts of Rosaceae berries are known for their antioxidant properties and have a good potential as food stabilizers; however, their efficiency may depend on the region. The research featured ethyl acetate extracts from mountain ash berries (Sorbus aucuparia L.), blood-red hawthorn (Crataegus sanguinea Nutt.), and black hawthorn (Crataegus nigra Waldst. & Kit.), harvested ripe in the south of the Republic of Armenia. The kinetic modeling of cumene oxidation (348 K) made it possible to determine the antioxidant activity. The experiment involved a manometric installation with automatically regulated pressure that recorded oxygen absorption in the reaction mix. The blood-red hawthorn extract demonstrated the highest antioxidant activity (k7 ≈ 5.5×10⁻3 L/mol·s), exceeding the mountain ash indicators (k7 ≈ 2.3×10⁻³ L/mol·s) by 2.5 times. The effective concentration of antioxidants in the mountain ash extracts was slightly higher (3.8 mol/L) than in the blood-red hawthorn extract (3.5–3.8 mol/L). The black hawthorn extract showed much lower indicators in both antioxidant content (0.66 mol/L) and activity (2.4×10–4 L/mol·s). However, the oxidation products of black hawthorn antioxidants exhibited a strong antioxidant activity (k71 = 6.48×10² L/mol·s), almost three times higher than the corresponding indicator for the blood-red hawthorn sample. The ethyl acetate extracts of blood-red hawthorn (Crataegus sanguinea Nutt.) and mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia L.) proved to be effective natural antioxidants that could replace synthetic food stabilizers and extend shelf-life. Despite its low initial antioxidant activity, the black hawthorn extract (Crataegus nigra Waldst. & Kit.) might be recommended for specific food systems with prolonged protective effects.

Keywords

Antioxidants, stabilizers, plant extracts, Sorbus aucuparia, Crataegus sanguinea, Crataegus nigra, cumene oxidation, quality, shelf life

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