Hydrophilic and Lipophilic Antioxidants in Foods and Food Processing

A special issue of Antioxidants (ISSN 2076-3921). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural and Synthetic Antioxidants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2026 | Viewed by 2409

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Straße 25-29, 07743 Jena, Germany
Interests: dietary antioxidants; carotenoids; polyphenols; vitamin E; vitamin C; antioxidant activity/capacity; interactions; bioavailability
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The purpose of this Special Issue in Antioxidants is to present recent investigations on the antioxidant activity/capacity of various food items, focusing mainly on the prominent hydrophilic antioxidants vitamin C and polyphenols, as well as on the prominent lipophilic antioxidants vitamin E and carotenoids. In addition to results on antioxidant potential, at least coming from 2 to 3 different assays, an analytical characterization of the most relevant antioxidant compounds in the food items is required. In addition to investigations of diverse foods, another topic of this Special Issue will be the effect of food processing, including traditional techniques in household and industry (e.g., steaming, frying, canning, drying), as well as modern technical processes (e.g., high-pressure processing), on antioxidants, as well as on the antioxidant activity/capacity.

Dr. Volker Böhm
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • antioxidant activity
  • antioxidant capacity
  • antioxidant mechanisms
  • carotenoids
  • polyphenols
  • vitamin C
  • vitamin E
  • impact of food processing

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 857 KB  
Article
Site-Dependent Variation in Phenolics and Antioxidant Capacity of Berberis vulgaris Raw Materials: A Multi-Assay Study
by Asta Mažeikienė, Dovilė Dringelytė and Neringa Burokienė
Antioxidants 2026, 15(3), 345; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox15030345 - 9 Mar 2026
Viewed by 596
Abstract
Plant phenolics are increasingly explored as natural antioxidants for food systems, yet antioxidant capacity data are difficult to compare because assay chemistry and geographic origin can influence outcomes. Moreover, conventional solvent-based assessments may underestimate the contribution of non-extractable phenolic fractions. Here, Berberis vulgaris [...] Read more.
Plant phenolics are increasingly explored as natural antioxidants for food systems, yet antioxidant capacity data are difficult to compare because assay chemistry and geographic origin can influence outcomes. Moreover, conventional solvent-based assessments may underestimate the contribution of non-extractable phenolic fractions. Here, Berberis vulgaris L. raw materials from six Lithuanian habitats were assessed using hydrolyzed extracts to estimate total releasable phenolics following hydrolytic treatment: total phenolic content (Folin–Ciocalteu) and antioxidant capacity (FRAP, CUPRAC, ABTS, and DPPH) were measured, and fruit extracts were additionally profiled by HPLC–DAD and LC–MS. Across matrices, mean TPC was comparable (108.7 ± 14.1, 111.9 ± 8.4, and 121.9 ± 14.7 mg GAE/g DW for bark, leaves, and fruits, respectively). However, comparable bulk phenolic levels did not translate into uniform antioxidant responses across assays. In contrast, site effects were pronounced, with fruit TPC ranging from 80.0 ± 5.1 to 242.2 ± 61.0 mg GAE/g DW, indicating that geographic origin may outweigh morphological differences when bulk metrics are used. Antioxidant capacity assays further confirmed pronounced site-dependent variability. In particular, leaf extracts exhibited the largest geographic differences, with CUPRAC values ranging from 268.5 ± 32.8 to 586.2 ± 58.6 µmol TE/g DW and ABTS values ranging from 222.0 ± 43.1 to 562.9 ± 26.6 µmol TE/g DW across sampling sites, corresponding to approximately 2.2- and 2.5-fold variation, respectively. Moreover, assay-specific responses led to differences in matrix ranking: bark showed the highest FRAP reducing power (373.2 ± 15.9 µmol TE/g DW), whereas leaves exhibited the highest CUPRAC and ABTS activities (395.7 ± 46.7 and 346.6 ± 48.5 µmol TE/g DW, respectively). Chromatographic profiling of fruits revealed a structurally diverse set of phenolic acids and flavonoids, providing structural support for assay-dependent antioxidant behavior. Overall, integration of multi-assay antioxidant evaluation with hydrolysis-based phenolic assessment and chromatographic profiling provides a broader characterization of Berberis vulgaris as a plant matrix of interest for food applications. This integrated approach supports more context-aware interpretation of antioxidant data in applied food research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrophilic and Lipophilic Antioxidants in Foods and Food Processing)
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20 pages, 5021 KB  
Article
Protective Effects of Natural Lipophilic Antioxidants on UV-Induced Lipid Oxidation in Liposomes and Their Enhancement
by Anna Heidrich, Melvin Höfer and Volker Böhm
Antioxidants 2025, 14(12), 1450; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox14121450 - 2 Dec 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1277
Abstract
Antioxidants, especially lipophilic antioxidants, absorb ultraviolet (UV) radiation and protect human skin from radicals that lead to oxidation reactions. The differences in the protective effects of carotenoids and α-tocopherol against UV radiation and the possible enhanced effects by the polar antioxidants, vitamin C [...] Read more.
Antioxidants, especially lipophilic antioxidants, absorb ultraviolet (UV) radiation and protect human skin from radicals that lead to oxidation reactions. The differences in the protective effects of carotenoids and α-tocopherol against UV radiation and the possible enhanced effects by the polar antioxidants, vitamin C and Trolox, need further investigation. Therefore, malondialdehyde was analyzed as a biomarker for lipid oxidation using the Thiobarbituric Acid-Assay (TBA-Assay) in liposomes irradiated with UV-C, UV-B, and UV-A radiation (254 nm, 320 nm, and 360 nm). In addition, antioxidant degradation was analyzed using HPLC with a diode array or fluorescence detector. The lipophilic antioxidants differ in their effect mainly due to their polarity and the associated different localization in the lipid bilayer. No pro-oxidative effect was observed at antioxidant concentrations close to saturation. The antioxidant effect was low at small concentrations, mainly due to aggregation of the antioxidants. The protective effect at higher antioxidant concentrations increased from up to 25–72% under UV-C, over 59–77% under UV-B, to 77–86% under UV-A radiation. Vitamin C proved to be 2–40 times less effective depending on the wavelength and the lipophilic antioxidant. Mixtures of lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidants showed partially additive or synergistic effects. This appears to be dependent on concentration and ratio. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrophilic and Lipophilic Antioxidants in Foods and Food Processing)
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