Effects of Trolox and ascorbic acid on the riboflavin photosensitised oxidation of aromatic amino acids

The effects of 0, 100, 250, 500, 750 or 1000ppm Trolox and ascorbic acid on the singlet oxygen oxidation of aromatic amino acids viz. phenylalanine, tryptophan, tyrosine in the presence of 25ppm riboflavin were determined by measuring depleted headspace oxygen by gas chromatography and aromatic amino acid content by high performance liquid chromatography. The coefficients of variations (CVs) for headspace oxygen analysis and HPLC analysis of aromatic amino acids were 1.4% and 4.7%, respectively. Samples were stored under light (1000lux) at 30°C for 10h. Both Trolox and ascorbic acid acted as antioxidants. As the concentration of Trolox and ascorbic increased from 0 to 1000ppm, the head space oxygen depletion increased. This was due to the oxidation of Trolox and ascorbic acid along with amino acids in the presence of riboflavin. High performance liquid chromatography analysis of the samples clearly indicated that both Trolox and ascorbic acid minimised the degradation of phenylalanine, tryptophan, tyrosine significantly (p<0.05), but did not prevent their oxidation completely. Trolox acted as a better antioxidant than ascorbic acid in protecting phenylalanine, tryptophan and tyrosine. Type-I mechanism was mainly responsible for riboflavin photosensitised degradation of aromatic amino acids.