PHYTOCHEMICAL CONTENT ANALYSIS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF Vanilla planifolia PODS

Vanilla planifolia (V. planifolia) is a plant belonging to the Orchidaceae family where one of the most popular uses of its pods are for vanilla flavor which is popularly used in food, beverage and cosmetic industries. Aside from the many potential applications of the vanilla extract, scientists have explored its antioxidant properties which is important in the field of scientific research in medicine. Our study analyzed important phytonutrients such as polyphenols, flavonoids, and condensed tannins from the extract obtained from dried and freeze-dried samples of V. planifolia bean pods obtained in Taiwan. The medicinal properties of these chemicals are due to their free radical scavenging activity or their antioxidant properties. In this study, we determined the total polyphenols, total condensed tannins and total flavonoids from the extracted pods of V. planifolia pods. Two extracting solvents were utilized in the extraction process using dried (40oC) and freeze dried plant samples. Phytochemical analyses showed that in the four extraction conditions the major phytonutrients are the polyphenolic compounds (38.4 mg/g) and the least are the flavonoids. The extraction process using ethanol as solvent yielded the highest phytonutrient profiles. These data are also consistent with the high antioxidant activities obtained from this extraction condition. The authors conclude that the use of ethanol extraction using oven-dried Vanilla bean pods at 40oC provide the best conditions for extracting phytochemicals with antioxidant activities.