Antioxidant activity estimation of inner and outer seed fractions of the legumes Vigna radiata L. and Glycine max L.

Abstract

Legumes have multiple functions in sustainable agriculture, but also are a favourable ingredient of functional nutrition. Antioxidants in legumes have several beneficial physiological properties and provide protection against chronic diseases. In this study, we compared the antioxidant activities of the seed fractions (outer and inner) for two different legumes: mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) and soybean (Glycine max L). The antioxidant activity was estimated using a modified DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay in a 96-well microplate. We showed that mung bean hulls possessed significantly higher (p<0.05) DPPH free radical scavenging activity (80.80 % ± 0.19) compared to their inner fraction (10.94 % ± 0.23), as well as to both fractions of the soybean. On the other hand, the soybean seeds' inner fractions (21.00 % ± 0.32) exhibited a significantly (p<0.05) higher activity than the hulls (8.78 % ± 0.71) and the inner fraction of the mung bean. The obtained results indicated that in each of the two analysed legume species, inner and outer seed fractions exhibited different antioxidant activities regarding to the elimination of the free radicals. The obtained results indicate that antioxidant capacity may be a useful indicator in the estimation of the quality of legume seeds as food and feed.