Antioxidant properties
Total phenolic content The total phenolic content was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) reagent (Singleton et al.1999) with minor modification. 100 μl of methanolic extract of test sample was mixed with 500 μl of FC reagent and 2 ml of 10 % sodium carbonate solution and distilled water was added to make final volume of 10 ml. The mixture was vortexed and incubation at room temperature in the dark for 30 min. The absorbance was measured at 725 nm on a spectrophotometer (HITACHI-2900). The results obtained were expressed as Gallic acid equivalents (mg GAE/100 g fresh mass) using a Gallic acid standard curve.