Study on the stability and antioxidant effect of the Allium ursinum watery extract

BACKGROUND: Organosulfur compounds usually present a reduced stability especially in the presence of oxygen. This research aimed to study the stability and antioxidant potential of the Allium ursinum watery extract. RESULTS: The decrease of the antioxidant capacity verifies an exponential relation which may be formally associated to a kinetically pseudomonomolecular process. The exponential regression equation allows the half-life of the degradation process to be determined, this being 14 hours and 49 minutes in a watery environment at room temperature. CONCLUSIONS: The watery extract of Allium ursinum changes its proprieties in time. This might be explained by the network of hydrogen bonds in a watery environment which has a protective effect on the dissolved allicin molecule.