Effect of harvesting time of Salvia Absconditiflora on the antioxidant activity of it.

The aim of the experiment was to investigate if there is a relation between the \nantioxidant activity of the S. Absconditiflora and the harvesting months of S. Absconditiflora \n(April, May, June and November) by looking the radical scavenging activity with the DPPH \nmethod. \nMy research question was: “How does the antioxidant activity of Salvia \nAbsconditiflora that is cultivated in different months (April, May, June and November) \nchange as indicated by the DPPH method in which the free radical scavenging activity is \ndetected?” \nIt was hypothesized that the antioxidant activity of S. Absconditiflora changes as it is \nharvested in different months (April, May, June and November). It is expected that the \nantioxidant activity in April and May will be the strongest as they are the spring months and \nthe antioxidant activity in November will be the lowest as it is the fall month. \nIn order to test the hypothesis and to answer the research question, the DPPH method \nused to determine the DPPH radical scavenging activity of S. Absconditiflora solutions. The \nsalvia extract, DPPH solution and S. Absconditiflora extracts’ solutions for the DPPH \nmeasurements were prepared. Radical scavenging activity were found for all solutions of both \nS. Absconditiflora and quercetin. The results were found by using the formula taking \nquercetin as a standard & control and percentage radical scavenging activity was calculated. \nAccording to data, the percentage radical scavenging activities of S. Absconditiflora cultivated \nin different months were compared. As the vitamin and carotene amounts differ due to \nflowering, the antioxidant activity showed difference. S. Absconditiflora cultivated in \nNovember showed the least antioxidant effect as the mean value is 84.71, followed by S. \nAbsconditiflora in April as the mean value is 87.88 . S. Absconditiflora in June and S. \nAbsconditiflora in May showed the strongest antioxidant activities. June has the mean value \n86.65 and May has the mean value 84.30. The p value is smaller than 0.05 and if the p value \nfrom anova is smaller than 0.05 so it is found that there is a significant mean difference \nbetween the antioxidant activity and harvesting time. With the help of experiment it is found \nthat S. Absconditiflora is affected by the harvesting months. This study shows the importance \nof harvesting time on the antioxidant activity of S. Absconditiflora.