Total Antioxidant Status in Sapropel Extracts Layer by Layer

Found in lakes, freshwater sapropel is sediment with a unique structure containing more than 10 % of unevenly distributed organic matter as well as residues of microscopic aquatic organisms with a small content of inorganic components of biogenic origin and mixture of mineral ingredients. Organic, mineral and biological compounds determine its characteristics with the wide effects enhancing skin health. Sapropel extract is a mixture of chemical elements, hormones, various organic acids and vitamins and has potential in therapeutic applications. In this study the total antioxidant status (TAS) and fulvic acids in sapropel extract from different layers of sapropel sediments was determined. The total antioxidant status for each sapropel layer were calculated, there was no significant difference in TAS for different sapropel sediment layer, and so median concentration of TAS was calculated to show findings from each investigated lake. The total antioxidant status was from 1.25±0.23 to 0.34±0.15 mmol Trolex/L (M±SD), it was found that TAS is considerably higher in organic sapropel extracts (p<0.02). Currently, the reason for so drastic differences in TAS between different lakes is not fully understood. An antioxidant level in each lake does not correlate with the concentration levels of fulvic acids concertation on sapropel sample (1 g). Lake with the highest fulvic acid concentration 40.9±4.7 mg/g has the lowest level of antioxidant status 0.34±0.15 mmol trolex/L. Acknowledgements - This research was supported by „Analysis of characteristics of medical sapropel and its usage for medical purposes and elaboration of industrial extraction methods”, project No. 1.1.1.1/16/A/16