ABSTRACT:
Foeniculum vulgare and Carum carvi have been known as medicinal and aromatic herbs and their seeds have been used as a spice and flavoring. Gamma irradiation effect on contents of total phenolic and total flavonoid, antioxidant activities and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) fingerprint of methanol extracts of F. vulgare and C. carvi seeds was investigated in this study. The seeds were irradiated with 5, 10 and 20 kGy ?-radiation. Contents of total phenolic and total flavonoid of both seeds were varied depending on the different doses of ?-radiation. For the antioxidant activity, the maximum 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity (IC50, 0.183 mg/ml) was presented in F. vulgare seeds when exposed to 5 kGy gamma irradiation. While C. Carvi seeds showed the uppermost DPPH scavenging activity (IC50, 0.180 mg/ml) when exposed to 20 kGy gamma irradiation. The FT-IR analysis of F. vulgare and C. carvi showed the presence of different functional groups which are related to different chemical constituents including carboxylic acids, alcohols, amines, amide, and phenols. In summary, gamma irradiation showed a positive effect on the contents of antioxidant and chemical constituents of F. vulgare and C. carvi seeds which lead to increase its pharmaceutical values.