Carvalho-Costa, D.Reis, A.R.Albuquerque, T.G.Costa, H.S.Castilho, M.C.Ramos, F.Machado, A.V.Sanches-Silva, A.2015-01-082015-01-082014-10http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/2598There is an increasing interest in healthy lifestyles and food with potential health benefits. Therefore, specific spices and herbs are being used to replace sugars and salt as well as artificial additives. Food Composition Databases (FCDB) provide information on important food components, however there is still lack of information regarding many aromatic herbs. The aim of this study was to determine vitamin C by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode array detection (DAD) in a vast range of aromatic herbs, including parsley (Petroselinum crispum Mill.), sage (Salvia officinalis L.), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), oregano (Origanum majorana L.) and tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.). The analytical method used was previously fully validated. The analytical column used was a SynergiTM Hydro-RP (150 x 4.6 mm I.D., 4.0 μm particle size) protected with a SecurityGuard Cartridge AQ C18. The mobile phase consisted of 20 mM NH4H2PO4, pH 3.5, and containing 0.015% of m-H3PO4 (w/v). The detection was monitored at 245 nm. Total vitamin C content per 100 g of edible portion ranged between 15.5 mg for tarragon and 149.2 mg for parsley. Parsley presented the highest content in ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids (74.8 and 74.4 mg per 100 g edible portion, respectively). The global market of aromatic herbs is expanding, thus the obtained analytical results are an important source of reliable data to be included in the Portuguese FCDB.engSegurança AlimentarComposição de AlimentosAromatic HerbsVitamin Cconference object