EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT CONTENTS AND ACTIVITY OF REGIONAL WHOLE GRAINS, COOKED AND ENRICHED FOODS OF NORTH KARNATAKA.

Regional whole grain cereals and millets of North Karnataka are being recognized for nutritional and unique processing qualities. The present investigation was undertaken to study antioxidant contents (polyphenol, phytic acid and trace elements) and antioxidant activity of selected regional whole grain cereals, cooked and enriched foods. Antioxidant activity of food extracts were evaluated by spectrophotometric method against stable 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH). The highest polyhenol content was observed in common sorghum for whole grains and cooked. Whereas, for enriched foods the highest polyphenol was observed in foxtail millet and similar results were also observed for phytic acid. Significant reduction was observed during cooking of traditional foods for polyphenol content. The highest zinc and copper content was found to be highest in foxtail millet. The highest manganese content was observed to be in common sorghum. Antioxidant activity ranged between 5.16 to 68.67 per cent for different processed foods. The enrichment of traditional foods with added natural food ingredients not only increased the polyphenol content and radical scavenging activity but also enhanced the aesthetic quality and sensory characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]