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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. 3 (2026)

Assessment of antioxidant activity of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) grass powder processed through different drying processes

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.12787
Submitted
17 November 2025
Published
25-06-2026 — Updated on 10-08-2026
Versions

Abstract

The young part of barley plant (Hordeum vulgare L.) known as barley grass (BG) that has been considered to be of particular use to humans as a good nutritional source of vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, phenols and many bioactive compounds in addition to its different health benefits. The objective of the study was to determine the antioxidant properties of BG powder prepared by different drying processes. Three drying methods with different time-temperature combinations [hot air oven drying (50 °C, 6 hr and 60 °C, 5 hr), microwave drying (600 W, 15 min and 800 W, 10 min) and vacuum oven drying (50 °C, 15 lb, 7 hr)] were utilised in the study for the preparation of BG powder. For the estimation of antioxidant properties of BG powder samples, anti-radical activity (%) (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) technique), total phenol content (mg gallic acid equivalent/gram dry weight method) and chlorophyll content (Arnon-1949 method) were measured. After quantitative analysis of antioxidant content of prepared BG powder, the results illustrated that microwave drying at 600 W for 15 min shows the best results in terms of retention of chlorophyll (595.67 mg/100 g), total phenolic content (43.56 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g) and antioxidant activity (66.37 %) in comparison with other drying methods like hot air oven drying and vacuum oven drying. The findings of the study support the development of BG powder using commonly available drying methods such as hot air oven, microwave oven and vacuum oven. Evaluation of the powders indicated appreciable levels of chlorophyll, phenolic compounds and notable antioxidant (antiradical) activity. These results suggest that barley grass powder can serve as a nutrient-dense food ingredient and may contribute to enhancing the nutritional quality of the daily diet.

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