ANTIOXIDANT LEVELS IN INDIAN ROSE, HIBISCUS, CHRYSANTHEMUM AND MARIGOLD TEA AND THEIR COMPARISON WITH BLACK AND GREEN TEA

Abstract

The traditional black and green teas are now being replaced by the herbal flower teas which have anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and anti-mutagenic properties. 
Herbal flower tea contains various phytochemicals such as catechins, flavonol glycosides, flavone glycosides and caffeine and pro anthocyanins. The 
present study was conducted with an aim to estimate the levels of phenolics, flavonoids content and antioxidant levels in Indian rose, marigold, 
chrysanthemum and marigold flowers for their use as herbal flower tea. The aqueous extracts of dried rose, marigold, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, green 
tea and black tea were analysed for total phenolics content, total flavonoid content and antioxidant power by using modified ferric ion reducing 
antioxidant power assay (FRAP). In the present study, the highest phenolic levels were found in rose tea (760.66 ± 5.03 mg TAE/gm) followed by 
marigold (594 ± 4.16 mg TAE/gm), chrysanthemum (432.66 ± 5.03 mg TAE/gm), Hibiscus (406 ± 7.21 mg TAE/gm), green tea (45.78 ± 5.8 mg 
TAE/gm) and black tea (42.45 ± 5.2 mg TAE/gm). Among flower tea, rose had highest antioxidant levels (39.03 ± 0.50 mg AAE/gm) and least in 
hibiscus (9.25 ± 0.43 mg AAE/gm). The present study concluded that, among the various herbal teas, rose and marigold had stronger antioxidant activity 
and poly phenol contents than green tea. The antioxidants levels of green tea were comparable to that of chrysanthemum tea and Hibiscus tea.