Oxidative stability of moist cake formulated with green tea extract as an active ingredient, moistea cake

The demand of the natural food preservatives by the consumers has increased in recent years, as there are some questions raised in the safety of synthetic additives like butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), which are widely being used in bakery products to inhibit lipid oxidation process. This study was done to investigate the possibility of tea extracts as a natural antioxidant in enhancing the oxidative stability of moist cakes. It aimed at comparing and evaluating the antioxidant activity of the green tea extract and to determine how effective the green tea extract would be in retention of the quality of the moist cakes during storing. The antioxidant properties of the samples were determined using total phenolic content (TPC) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) analysis whereas the cake samples were analysed regarding oxidative stability considering peroxide value (PV) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) levels. Antioxidant tests showed that green tea extract had slightly lower TPC and FRAP values than BHA, but the difference was minimal. Cakes made with green tea extract had lower PV and TBA values than that of the control, indicating their delayed oxidation. Nonetheless, cakes with BHA showed the highest stability in general. The findings indicated that the green tea extract could impart as high an antioxidant effect at 246 ppm as compared to 200 ppm of BHA, which means that it could be used as an additional natural preservative. To sum up, this study points out that green tea extract has a potential to be a functional ingredient in the bakery formulations to increase its shelf life and cut dependence on synthetic antioxidants.