Violeta Mitic^1,, Vesna Stankov Jovanovic¹, Marija Dimitrijevic¹, Jelena Cvetkovic¹, Gordana Stojanovic¹

Effect of food preparation technique on antioxidant activity and plant pigment content in broccoli, Brussels sprouts, white cabbage, kale, chard, spinach and garden patience were studied. The highest content of chlorophyll a was detected in garden patience (0.837 mg/g f.v.) and the lowest was in brussels sprout (0.047 mg/g f.v.), while chlorophyll b and carotenoid content was lower. Boiling had influence on pigment content in selected vegetables. Different food preparation technique showed influence on antioxidant activity of vegetables extracts. Boiled vegetables extracts showed highest antioxidant activity, which indicates that valuable phytochemicals remains in water during cooking process. Highest reducing power is detected for frozen garden patience extract (16.775 AAE/10 g f.v.), while DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays showed highest antioxidant activities for boiled and microwave cooked vegetables. Correlations among antioxidant activities based on ABTS, DPPH, FRAP and TRP assays were positively high and r ranged between 0.68 and 0.99.

antioxidant activity, leafy green vegetables, chlorophyll, carotenoids, correlation