## 3 Results and Discussion
Similarly, o-phenylphenols like caffe acid do not directly form adducts with MGO but can undergo dehydration to generate reactive intermediates capable of reacting with MGO [28]. In the case of flavonoids, structural elements also play a crucial role in their ability to trap MGO [38]. The distribution of individual phenolic acids within the total phenolic acid content in the carob flour extracts is presented in Table 3. Except for its CGA content, the aqueous extract showed significantly lower levels of phenolic compounds compared to the methanolic extract, consistent with the TPC values and antioxidant capacity reported in Table 1. In agreement with findings reported for carob syrupps [14], gallic acid was the predominant compound in both extracts, with concentrations up to 100 to 1000 times higher than those of the other phenolic acids. The levels of p-hydroxybenzoic, syringic, p-coumaric, and ferulic acids ranged between 40 and 80 ug/g, while the remaining phenolic acids were present at lower concentrations, ranging from 4 to 12 ug/g. These results align with the previous literature [39], which also identifies coumaric and gallic acids as the main phenolic acids in carob. [PERSON] et al. [17] highlighted that the gallic acid content and antioxidant capacity were significantly higher in carob flour samples without seeds. The gallic acid content and antioxidant capacity of samples were clearly dependent on the presence of carob seeds: carob flour samples without seeds showed a significantly higher gallic acid content and greater antioxidant capacity (\(p<0.05\)). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline  & **Aqueous** & **Methanolic** \\ \hline CA & 4.3 \(\pm\) 0.1 a & 5.8 \(\pm\) 0.3 b \\ CGA & 12.5 \(\pm\) 0.1 b & 10.8 \(\pm\) 0.0 a \\ FA & 64.9 \(\pm\) 1.3 a & 72.0 \(\pm\) 0.3 b \\ GA & 6398.1 \(\pm\) 25.58 a & 7235.0 \(\pm\) 160.6 b \\ GE & 7.1 \(\pm\) 0.4 a & 7.6 \(\pm\) 0.5 a \\ PCA & 8.9 \(\pm\) 0.4 a & 6.6 \(\pm\) 0.8 a \\ pCU & 72.1 \(\pm\) 3.9 a & 80.1 \(\pm\) 3.1 a \\ pHB & 41.1 \(\pm\) 0.1 a & 46.0 \(\pm\) 0.6 b \\ SIN & 9.0 \(\pm\) 0.2 a & 11.0 \(\pm\) 0.3 b \\ SYN & 76.7 \(\pm\) 0.7 a & 73.1 \(\pm\) 4.9 a \\ VA & 5.7 \(\pm\) 0.3 a & 7.0 \(\pm\) 0.6 a \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Phenolic acid content (ug/g) in aqueous and methanolic extracts of carob flour. The phenolic acid profile of the extracts may help explain their antiglycation activity and MGO-trapping capacity, as several of these compounds are known for such bioactivities. Among the phenolic compounds identified, gallic acid likely plays a central role in the MGO-trapping capacity of the methanolic extract. Its chemical structure, characterized by three hydroxyl groups attached to a benzoic acid core, facilitates nucleophilic attack on electrophilic dicarbonyl compounds such as MGO. These hydroxyl groups act as electron-donating substituents, enhancing the reactivity of the aromatic ring toward electrophilic aromatic substitution. This mechanism enables gallic acid to form stable adducts with MGO, thereby limiting its ability to participate in AGE formation. MGO-trapping rates for gallic acid under physiological conditions have been reported to range from 28.5% to 87.7% [40; 41]. In contrast, chlorogenic and caffeic acids exhibit significantly lower MGO-trapping capacities--approximately fourfold lower than that of gallic acid [41]. Sinapic and p-hydroxybenzoic acids, commonly found in Brassica vegetable extracts, have also been shown to inhibit fluorescent AGE formation by up to 67% [34]. Although ferulic acid lacks MGO-trapping ability [37], other phenolic acids such as syrigenic acid have demonstrated inhibitory effects on AGE formation [42]. Additionally, in silico studies have indicated that caffeic acid can inhibit AGE-related fluorescence [43]. These findings suggest that the antioxidant and antiglycation properties of carob flour are largely attributable to its phenolic compounds, with additional mechanisms--such as the trapping of reactive carbonyl species like MGO--also likely contributing to its bioactivity.