The ORAC Scale
Testing Antioxidant Capacity
In recent years testing antioxidant capacity has become an increasingly popular issue. Companies use various testing methods in order to substantiate product quality and provide a point of differentiation. RFI’s technical director, Ginny Bank, discussed why testing antioxidant capacity is critical. “Measuring antioxidant capacity is absolutely necessary for the consumer, the manufacturer and the supplier. Without some sort of measurement, there would be no way for a consumer to compare products, no way for a supplier to determine a product’s quality and no way for a manufacturer to choose antioxidants for the products they are developing,” she commented.
According Ms. Bank, the most popular, easiest and least expensive of the testing methods available is the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) method, which places antioxidant value on both foods and supplements. “ORAC is a superior method because it measures both the degree to which a sample inhibits the action of an oxidizing agent and how long it takes to do so. It is an automated system that has the ability to measure both lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidants, and antioxidant potency against various types of free radicals can also be measured,” she explained. “ORAC’s limitation is that it is an in vitro test. In vivo studies, such as measuring oxidative degradation products in the urine, would obviously be superior to ORAC, however, this test is very impractical and very expensive to run regularly.”
Michael Hudnall, director of marketing at bee pollen extract supplier CC Pollen, Phoenix, AZ, talked about the impact ORAC has had on the nutraceutical market. “ORAC testing has made a significant impact on the industry because we now have the ability to quantify antioxidant levels,” he offered. “Previously, the presence of antioxidant activity was more of a quality statement with vague characterizations about the presence of antioxidants.”
Source: Nutraceuticals World
What is S-ORAC,
and What Does it Mean to Me?
When looking at ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), the SOD (Super Oxide Dismutase) activity or S-ORAC score is even more important than the ORAC score for a food. It is the measure of our body's ability to neutralize oxidation caused by our environment.
A super oxide radical can collect up to 3 electrons, as well as other super oxide radicals. Free radicals are the cause of cancer and for aging and the super oxide radical is the most aggressive of all free radicals.
An Interesting Story:
When Young Living reformulated NingXia Red using the puree instead of the juice of the wolfberries, they sent a sample to Brunswick Labs to test the S-ORAC. It came back with an S-ORAC value of (365) per oz. Competing juices on the market have an S-ORAC score of (1 - 4 ) per oz.
The corporate staff at Young Living thought that this must be an error, so they sent another sample, which came back with the same score. When they sent a third sample, it came back the same - 365/oz. Brunswick Labs told Young Living that they were willing to stand behind their testing. This score equates to (12,500) S-ORAC units per liter which is unlike anything else available in today's market.
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