Phenylalanine Increases the Production of Antioxidant Phenolic Acids in Cell Cultures.

The aims of this study were to evaluate the antioxidant properties, to investigate the content of major secondary metabolites in cell cultures, and to determine the change in the production of phenolic acids by adding phenylalanine to the culture medium. Three in vitro methods, which depend on different mechanisms, were used for assessing the antioxidant activity of the extract: 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil (DPPH), reducing power and Fe chelating activity assays. The extract showed moderate activity both in the DPPH and in the reducing power assays (IC = 1.