ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant properties and activities of tea formulated from ginger and clove at different ratios of 100:0, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50, 40:60 and 30:70 respectively. The experiment involves the procurement offresh plant samples while commercial tea; Lipton was used as the reference sample. The study was done in the Research Laboratory ofthe Department of Food Science and Technology, Michael Okpara University ofAgriculture Umudike in Nigeria. The formulated tea samples were assessed for their antioxidant properties such as vitamin C, polyphenol, total phenolic, total flavonoid contents and antioxidant activities such as FRAP (Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power), DPPH (1, l-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl), ABTS (2,2-azino-bis (3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) respectively. The results of antioxidant properties showed that, vitamin C content ranged from 0.77 to 11.95 mg/100 mg, polyphenol content ranged from 28.57 to 114.14 mg/100 g, total phenolic content ranged from 36.61 to 144.92 mg GAE/100 mL, total flavonoid content ranged from 11.22 in to 18.75 mg QE/g, while the results for antioxidant activities ranged from 35.73 to 73.09% for DPPH, 0.91 to 1.75 mmolFe3+/g for FRAP and 38.52 to 66.85 mg TE/g for ABTS respectively. The sensory scores oftea samples ranged from 6.00 to 8.80 appearance, 5.71 to 8.15 taste, 5.60 to 6.48 aroma, 5.50 to 7.35 mouthfeel and 5.79 to 6.30 general acceptability. The formulated tea samples had higher antioxidant properties than commercial tea sample; Lipton, which indicated that ginger and clove are rich in antioxidant properties. These activities, including sensory properties, increased significantly as the amount of clove increase, suggesting that an acceptable tea can be produced from blend of ginger and clove.