Effect of drying method on antioxidant activity of Jiwhang (Rehmannia glutinosa)

Jiwhang (Rehmannia glutinosa), one of the most widely used medicinal herbs, was dried with various methods such as sun drying, hot air drying, vacuum drying, and freeze drying methods, and their effects on the antioxidant capacity in relation with the content of total phenolic compounds were studied with a steamed-and-dried rehmannia (sookjiwhang) for comparison. Generally, total phenolic contents decreased significantly by all of the drying treatments except the steamed-and- dried rehmannia, in which total phenolic contents increased 2.4 fold compared with fresh rehmannia. Content of verbascoside, a functional phenolic compound, was the highest in the freeze-dried rehmannia (177.97±0.02 μg/g d.m.) followed by vacuum- dried (105.55±0.07 μg/g d.m.), hot air-dried (23.01±0.02 μg/g d.m.), and sun-dried (4.89±0.13 μg/g d.m.) ones comparable to the fresh rehmannia (80.15±1.26 μg/g d.m.). Antioxidant capacity determined by both 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethyl-benzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) methods agreed with the result of total phenolic contents, that is, the antioxidant capacity was the highest in the steamed-and-dried rehmannia followed by fresh rehmannia, vacuum- dried, hot air-dried, sun-dried, and freeze-dried ones. Conclusively, the total phenolic contents and antioxidant capacity of rehmannia were greatly affected by the drying methods used.