Abstract:
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum), cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), curry leaves
(Murraya koenigii), ginger (Zingiber officinale), and liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) are
commonly used herbs and spices in Sri Lanka for medicinal and culinary purposes. This
study was carried out to determine the proximate composition and antioxidant properties of
the dried and powdered coriander seed, cinnamon bark, ginger rhizome, curry leaves, and
liquorice roots using standard procedures and the data analysed using the ANOVA SAS
university edition. Moisture content of the selected samples ranged between 5.80%±0.33 to
8.79%±0.1 where lowest value was observed in coriander seeds and highest was in curry
leaves. Coriander seeds (5.97%±0.04) and curry leaves (11.47%±0.03) were bared the lowest
and highest values respectively for ash content while 6.37%±0.06 to 38.99%±0.97 was the
range for crude fibre content with ginger rhizome and cinnamon bark contained the poorest
and richest values respectively. Coriander seeds (18.4%±0.04) contained highest and
liquorice root powder (1.01%±0.01) had lowest values for crude fat content among the
selected herbs. Crude protein content of the selected samples ranged between 5.45%±0.23
to 16.15%±0.22 where lowest value was observed in cinnamon bark and highest was in curry
leaves. 33.21%±0.39 to 64.37%±0.77 was the range for carbohydrates in selected herbs
where cinnamon and ginger contained the lowest and highest percentage respectively. With
70% ethanol extractions, antioxidant assays namely total phenolic content (TPC), total
flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant capacity were performed for all five herbs under
the spectrophotometric method. The results showed TPC in the range 1.33±0.008 to
7.91±0.03 mg GAE/g dry weight, TFC ranged between 0.88±0.006 to 22.73±0.086 mg CE/g
dry weight, and antioxidant capacity ranged between 6.43±0.041 to 15.42±0.058 mg AAE
mg /g dry weight that lowest and highest values were determined in coriander seeds and
cinnamon bark respectively for all antioxidant tests. The study showed that these herbs and
spices contained a significant level of nutrients, crude fibre and bioactive compounds which
will be beneficial in food applications.
