Antioxidant potential and quality benchmarking of commercial fennel seeds

Abstract:

Foeniculum​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ vulgare Mill. seeds are known for their dual use as spices and traditional medicines. Surprisingly, there is a lack of research on the quality benchmarking of the commercially available fennel seed powder that integrates antioxidant capacity and physicochemical attributes, especially in the Indian scenario. To this end, the present investigation was performed to authenticate a wide range of antioxidant and quality attributes of the fennel seed powder obtained from the Indian market to provide a rationale for its use as a functional food. Methanolic extracts of fennel seed owder were analyzed for TPC, TFC, DPPH radical scavenging capacity, and FRAP through the utilization of assay kits validated by spectrophotometry. Physicochemical properties including moisture, ash, acid-insoluble ash, volatile oil content as well as instrumental colour parameters (L*, a*, b*) were assessed by the standardized methods. The considerable antioxidant capacity of the fennel seed powder was revealed by the TPC and TFC of 9.55 ± 0.23 mg GAE g⁻¹ and 7.76 ± 0.28 mg QE g⁻¹, respectively, alongside DPPH and FRAP values reaching 6.79 ± 0.24 mM Trolox equivalents g⁻¹ and 16.88 ± 0.72 mM Fe²⁺ g⁻¹. The low level of moisture (7.61%) and negligible acid-insoluble ash reflected good storage stability and purity of the sample. This research has set a standard antioxidant and quality marker for commercial fennel seed powder, thus it can be considered as a viable natural, clean-label functional component, for food formulations.