Antioxidant Activity of Korean Traditional Soy Sauce

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antioxidant activity of Korean traditional soy sauce and its relationship with physicochemical properties. Seventeen samples of soy sauce prepared by using a Korean traditional method were obtained from six provinces of Korea. The most powerful antioxidant activity of soy sauce was ranging from 8.96 to 63.39% for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, from 0.12 to 2.41 AE mg/mL for ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) value, and from 8.42 to 115.69 TE mg/mL for oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Protease activity and total polyphenol contents were highly correlated with antioxidant activities such as DPPH radical scavenging activity and FRAP value (R=0.97). The contents of amino nitrogen were also correlated with DPPH radical scavenging activity (R=0.92), FRAP (R=0.93), and ORAC values (R=0.80). Based on these results, antioxidant activities were highly influenced by protease activity, contents of total polyphenols, and amino nitrogen.