Atividade antioxidante e teor de fenólicos totais em hortaliças orgânicas e convencionais

Considering that consumers are becoming more conscious of their health and more concerned with environmental conditions, there has been an increasing demand for organic foods. The aim of this study was to compare the antioxidant activity and determine the total phenolic content of organic and conventional cultivations of lettuce, arugula, and chicory grown in the same vegetable garden. The antioxidant activity of the methanol extracts of these leaf vegetables wasdetermined using DPPH free radical scavenging assay. The total phenolic content in the extracts was determined spectrometrically according to the Folin-Ciocalteu method and calculated as equivalent of gallic acid. The antioxidant activity against the DPPH free radical was: organic arugula> organic chicory > organic lettuce > conventional arugula > conventional chicory > conventional lettuce. The total phenolic content was higher in the organic vegetables. The results of this study suggest that the organic vegetable can be a good dietary source of natural antioxidant and phenolic compounds; therefore, their consumption must be encouraged.