The total phenolic content (TPC) was determined according the FolineCiocalteu spectrophotometric method (Gao, Wang, Oomah, & Mazza, 2002). Sample (200 mg) was extracted with 4 mL acidi- fied methanol (HCl/methanol/water, 1:80:10, v/v/v) at room tem- perature (25 C) for 2 h. Aliquot of extract (200 mL) was added to 1.5 mL freshly diluted (10 fold) FolineCiocalteu reagent. The mixture was allowed to equilibrate for 5 min and then mixed with 1.5 mL of sodium carbonate solution (60 g/L). After incubation at room temperature (25 C) for 90 min, the absorbance of the mixture was read at 725 nm (Shimadzu, UV-1800, Japan). Acidified methanol was used as a blank. The results were expressed as mg of ferulic acid equivalents (FAE) per gram of sample.