The importance of solvent type in estimating antioxidant properties of phenolic compounds by ABTS assay

ABTS assay belongs to the most popular methods employed for estimating antioxidant activity. However, researchers seldom pay attention to specific factors influencing the determination of antioxidant activity of the examined compounds and mixtures. The paper shows that the type of alcohol used significantly influences the estimation of antioxidant activity of phenolic compounds in ABTS assay, namely that their antioxidant activity increase with the lengthening of the aliphatic chain in alcohol. It results rather from the changes in ABTS •+ solvatation energy by the employed alcohols than from dissociation variations of phenolic compounds. The obtained results point to the difficulties in the correct estimation of the real antioxidant properties of plant and food extracts by ABTS assay. The presented results have also an ecological implication as they refer to the difference in estimation of antioxidant properties of compounds resulting from the replacement of toxic methanol by GRAS (Generally-Recognized-As Safe) solvents, ethanol and propanol.