Exemplified screening standardization of potent antioxidant nutraceuticals by principles of design of experiments

Standardization is an essential step in the development of nutraceutical based formulations or products. The objective of the present study was to exemplify screening standardization of the potent antioxidant nutraceuticals (generic), namely curcumin, quercetin, hesperidin, gallic acid, citric acid, L-ascorbic acid, phytic acid and α-tocopherol based on ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) value and also tried to justify the reliability of two different designs of experiments i.e. Plackett-Burman fold-over design and Taguchi L18 in screening related experiments. First screening of antioxidant nutraceutical was performed by Plackett-Burman fold-over design (resolution IV) and the outcome was analysed based on Pareto chart of standardized effect where the quercetin, gallic acid and curcumin have shown p value of <0.05 and the same factors were found to be positive outliner in half normal probability analysis. Further, the results were validated using factorial Taguchi orthogonal array, based on SN ratio (maximum the best response). Both statistical designs have given the same order of potency based on FRAP value as: quercetin > gallic acid > curcumin. Therefore it can be concluded that the statistical design of experiments is reliable in screening related experiments for development of nutraceutical formulations or products.