2.4.4. Total phenolics
Total phenolics content was determined by spectrophotometry using Folin–Ciocalteau reagent method (Lu et al., 2007) with slight modification. A freeze-dried sample was extracted with 70% etha-nol and then reacted with a 10-fold diluted Folin–Ciocalteau re-agent. Sodium carbonate at a concentration of 7.5% (w/v) was added, and the final volume was made up with deionized water. After incubation at room temperature in the dark for 2 h, the mix-ture’s absorbance was measured against the gallic acid standard at 760 nm. Total phenolic contents were expressed as mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/100 g sample.