Factors Influencing the Antioxidant Potential of Amla and Its Products

Aims: Emblica officinalis, locally known as Amla, is a highly nutritious seasonal fruit. The processed fruit could be an important dietary source of natural vitamin C with potent antioxidant activity. The aim of present investigation was to study factors influencing antioxidant potential of Amla and its products.
Methodology: Three Indian varieties of Amla fruits in three ripening states (unripe, semi ripe and fully ripe) were analyzed for total phenolic contents, vitamin C as well as antioxidant potential. Two Amla products were studied over a period of 33 days for these parameters.
Results: In the present data, the fully ripe stage of Amla had the highest value of vitamin C (804.4±0.8mg/100g) and polyphenols (1300.3±99.6mg/100g) than the unripe, semi ripe stages. The DPPH Scavenging activity was found to be highest in semi ripe stage. ABTS radical scavenging (IC50 values) of unripe, semi ripe and ripe were 18.5±0.0071, 34.7±0.026, 21.9±0.024 respectively. The stability study for syrup and pickle, processed from Amla fruit, demonstrated sharper decrease of the vitamin C content for pickle than decrease for syrup over the time 33 days but the polyphenols and the free radical scavenging activity remained the same over the time.
Conclusion: The present study suggested that ripening stages influence the antioxidant potential of Amla fruit. The contents of vitamin C showed a significant decrease over time in syrup and pickle but the antioxidant potential remained unaffected.