but its applications should to be carried out bearing in mind the basis of the method, and the need
wherever possible to establish the stoichiometry
for the quenching reaction, so that the antioxidant
activity may be related to the structure of the substrate molecule. Likewise, in the case of complex
mixtures, at least the presumed presence of active
sites in the material should be recognised by working in terms of equivalences of the DPPH molecule. Finally, the originating paper (Blois, 1958)
should be consulted by all who use the method,
but read in conjunction with the more recent work
of Brand-Williams and colleagues (Bondet et al.,
1997; Brand-Williams et al., 1995) which indicates
that the situation may not always be as simple as
that originally presented.