Analysis of physicochemical properties and antioxidant activities of commercial tteokbokki sauce in Korea

This study investigated the physicochemical properties (total soluble solid, salinity, pH, Hunter color value, moisture content, and viscosity), total dietary fiber (TDF) content, free sugar content, and antioxidant activities (total flavonoid content, total phenolic content, and DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities) of 11 types of commercial tteokbokki sauce products in Korea. The pH values of the tteokbokki sauce products were 4.62-5.83, total soluble solids were 34.60-59.40 °Brix, and salinities were 2.89-5.77%. The lightness (L), redness (a), and yellowness (b) of the Hunter color value were 23.94–43.08, 4.32–22.49, and 1.67–19.88, respectively. The moisture contents in the tteokbokki sauce products were in the range of 27.73-53.20% and the viscosity values were 373.57–7,246.33 cP. The TDF contents determined by enzymatic-gravimetric method were in the range of 0.64–4.47 g/100 g, and the free sugar contents of the tteokbokki sauce products were 13.45-32.87 g/100 g. The eleven types of tteokbokki sauce products all contained fructose, glucose, and sucrose. The total flavonoid and phenolic contents of the tteokbokki sauce products were 0.12-0.36 mg RE/g and 1.14-1.82 mg GAE/g, respectively. The DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities of the tteokbokki sauce products were 32.98-87.41% and 18.45-74.72%, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the total phenolic and flavonoid content, as well as the DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities were positively correlated (r=0.651-0.918) with the antioxidant activities. These results provide basic data for commercial tteokbokki sauce in Korea.