Determination of reducing power and metal chelating ability of antioxidant peptides: revisited methods

The purpose of this study was to improve two common tests used for antioxidant capacity measurements, i.e. the reducing power and chelating ability measurements, for appropriate comparisons between the molecules tested and chosen references, as the usual methods are often performed in a qualitative way rather than a quantitative way. After revision, it was then possible to determine an AERC indice (Ascorbate Equivalent Reducing Capacity) and a CECC (Carnosine Equivalent Chelating Capacity) or EECC (EDTA Equivalent Chelating Capacity) indice according to the standard chosen, by analogy to the TEAC indice (Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity) already used in many reported works to determine the free radical scavenging activity. Thus, the determination of these relative indices enables the comparison of antioxidative capacities obtained in various studies. The adaptation of these two tests to micro-scales and the calculation of AERC, EECC and CECC were performed on model peptides.