ABSTRACT
The current study was designed to examine the Shelf life extension ability and antioxidant activity of the ethanolic extracts processed from Moringa stenopetale, Artemesia anua and Mentha Spicata. The raw milk and preservative plants was collected from Chencha woreda, Arba Minch. Purposive sampling techniques were used for collection of milk and plant samples. The crude extracts were isolated from three plant species using Soxhlet extraction method and characterized for the presence of bio-active compounds qualitatively and quantitatively. He accelerated shelf-life testing method was used to estimate the shelf-life of milk samples. Deterioration was tracked using measurements of the peroxide values and sensory characteristics. The DPPH free radical scavenging assay was used to determine the antioxidant capacity of various extracts, and the absorbance was measured at 517 nm. Mentha Spicata had the highest TPC value of 2.842 ± 0.109 mg GAE/g, while Moringa stenopetale had the lowest at 0.285± 0.0098 mg GAE/g. Similarly, Moringa stenopetale had the greatest TTC value of 69.86 ± 1.25 mg QE/g, while Mentha Spicata had the lowest at 46.2 ± 0.7 mg QE/g. The extracts of Moringa stenopetale, Artemesia anua, and Mentha Spicata showed good antioxidant activities, with IC50 values of 39.490 ± 0.029, 61.189± 0.058, and 68.062± 0.014 g/mL, respectively. The shelf-life of the milk sample improved with Moringa stenopetale was 6.99 days at 27 °C. Generally, Moringa stenopetale had the longest shelf life of all the plant extracts tested for milk samples.
