ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Antioxidant activity of rosemary extracts in solution and embedded in polymeric systems

Petre Ionita, Vasile Dinoiu, Cornel Munteanu, Ioana Maria Turcu, Victorita Tecuceanu, Traian Zaharescu, Eliza Oprea, Cornelia Ilie, Dan Anghel, and Gabriela Ionita

‘Ilie Murgulescu’ Institute of Physical Chemistry, Romanian Academy, 202 Splaiul Independentei, 060021 Bucharest, Romania

E-mail: ige@icf.ro

Abstract: The rosemary extract was encapsulated in polyethylene or in covalently-based network gels. The covalent gels were obtained by the reaction of isocyanate end-capped polyethylene glycol (PEG) with β-cyclodextrin or glycerol. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay was used to evaluate the antioxidant activity (AA) of rosemary extract entrapped in polymeric structures and in ethanol or water solutions. The AA of the rosemary extract was determined using a DPPH radical for samples prepared in ethanol, and a water-soluble derivative, the sulphonated DPPH radical (DPPH-SO3Na), for the rosemary extract in water. Formulation of the rosemary extract in polymeric gels ensures a rapid release which determines the AA values similar to those in solution.

Keywords: plant extract – DPPH – polyethylene – polymeric gels

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1515/chempap-2015-0024

Chemical Papers 69 (6) 872–880 (2015)