Measurement of antioxidant activity

Antioxidants play an important role in food preservation by inhibiting oxidation processes and contributing to health promotion rendered by many dietary supplements, nutraceuticals and functional food ingredients. Antioxidant activity can be monitored by a variety of assays with different mechanisms, including hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), single electron transfer (ET), reducing power, and metal chelation, among others. Understanding the principle mechanisms, advantages and limitations of the measurement assays is important for proper selection of method(s) for valid evaluation of antioxidant potential in desired applications. This contribution provides a general and up-to-date overview of methods available for measuring antioxidant activity and the chemistry behind them.