Evaluation of free radical-scavenging properties of commercial grape phenol extracts by a fast colorimetric method

Three commercial extracts of grape phenols (seeds, skin, whole) were used in this study. Each extract was divided by HPLC into five fractions of different polarities, and their free radical-scavenging activities were measured using the DPD (N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine) colorimetric method. Total phenol contents were determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu method to assess their contribution to the antiradical activity. The results showed that there was good correlation between total phenolic compound contents and free radical-scavenging activities of the different grape extracts. Moreover, the seed extract presented the most important free radical-scavenging properties (138 USP/mg extract), whereas the whole extract presented the lowest free radical-scavenging capacity (80.5 USP/mg extract). However, the free radical-scavenging properties, reported on the basis of content of phenolic compounds in each extract, showed that the free radical-scavenging activities of seed and whole extracts were not significantly different (171 versus 162 USP/mg phenol). In addition, free radical-scavenging activities of fractions from seed and skin extracts decreased as their polarities decreased.