Phenolic Acid Content and Free Radical-Scavenging Activity of Two Differently Processed Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) Pod

The phenolic acids in free phenolic acid (FPHA), methanol-soluble phenolic ester (MSPE), and methanol-soluble phenolic glycoside (MSPG) fractions of two carob products, natural carob-pod flour (CPF) and commercial carob-pod flour (CCPF), were identified and quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Six phenolic acids were identified in the carob flours (gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, gentisic acid, syringic acid, p- coumaric acid, and sinapic acid). Gallic acid was the major phenolic acid; and its concentrations in CCPF were substantially higher than in CPF (135 - 166 and 85.2 - 91.3 mg/g dw, respectively). The concentrations of p-coumaric acid and sinapic acid were also higher in CCPF than in CPF. In contrast, the concentrations of protocatechuic acid and gentisic acid were generally lower in CCPF than in CPF, with the only exception being gentisic acid glycosides. Both carob-pod flours contained almost the same amount of sinapic acid and syringic acid. The total phenolic contents of the FPHA, MSPE, and MSPG fractions of CPF were found to be 44%, 38%, and 69% that of the respective fractions of CCPF. Correspondingly, the FPHA, MSPE, and MSPG fractions of CCPF had higher free radical-scavenging activity (28.4%, 33.1%, and 26.2%, respectively) than the corresponding fractions of CPF (9.2%, 28.0%, and 9.2%, respectively). Notably, the FPHA and MSPG fractions of each sample had very similar scavenging activity while the MSPE fraction always had higher activity. The FPHA and MSPG fractions of CPF had the lowest activities.