# Antioxidative and Photop Protective In Vitro Potential of Lavandula Angustifolium
## 4 Discussion
For flower extracts, after their preparation, evaluated by the ABTS method, the highest antioxidant activity was observed for extracts prepared after a 60 min extraction in 70% methanol, 70% ethanol, and 40% n-propanol (26.9 \(\pm\) 2.7, 31.8 \(\pm\) 3.6, and 35.4 \(\pm\) 2.01 TEAC, respectively). No significant differences were found between antioxidant activity in herb and flower extracts evaluated immediately after their preparation (Table 2). The same extracts evaluated twelve months later showed slightly higher activity determined by the ABTS method, similar to the DPPH method. For herb extracts, the highest activity was found for extracts in 40% methanol and in 40% ethanol after a 60 min extraction (23.8 \(\pm\) 0.6 and 23.3 \(\pm\) 0.2 TEAC, respectively). The differences between the antioxidant activities of lavender herb extracts determined at an interval of 12 months were statistically insignificant. In the case of flower extracts evaluated after twelve months, the highest antioxidant capacity was found for extracts in 40% n-propanol and 40% isopropanol after a 60 min ultrasound-assisted extraction (30.8 \(\pm\) 6.0 and 24.3 \(\pm\) 0.4 TEAC, respectively). The differences between the antioxidant activities of lavender flower extracts determined at an interval of 12 months were statistically insignificant (Table 2). Moreover, the differences in antioxidant activity in herb and flower extracts determined immediately after their preparation were statistically insignificant, but for determinations carried out twelve months later, the differences were statistically significant (_p_ = 0.0009, Table 2). [PERSON] et al. evaluated the antioxidant potential of _Lavandula angustifolia_ extracts in 70% ethanol [29]. The studied material included extracts of dried untreated lavender and three extracts of lavender by-products. To prepare the extracts, 300 g of raw material was heated with 2 L 70% (\(v/v\)) ethanol at 60-65 \({}^{\circ}\)C for 1 h and macerated overnight at room temperature. After filtration, 1000 mL of the same solvent was added to the remaining raw material and the procedure was repeated. Both filtrates were combined. The antioxidant activity determined using the ABTS method was 125.0 \(\pm\) 18.9 mM TE (Trolox equivalent)/g and was lower than the activities of by-product extracts. Similar observations can be made for the DPPH method (the activity of the extract of untreated lavender was 185.0 \(\pm\) 6.7 mM TE/g) [29]. [PERSON] et al. evaluated the antioxidant potential and phenolic content in 17 plants, including spices [60]. Antioxidants were extracted using different techniques. The extracts were prepared using 2 g of raw material and 20 mL of water. The highest antioxidant activity determined by the ABTS method was observed for the extracts obtained by Randall extraction, while the lowest was obtained after sonication (20.19 and 4.54 mg/100 g DW) [60]. [PERSON] et al. determined the antioxidant potential of the flower and leaf extracts of _Lavandula angustifolia_ cultivated in southern Poland also using the ABTS method. As previously mentioned, the extracts were prepared by shaking 10 g lavender (either flowers or leaves) in 60% ethanol for 72 h. The mean antioxidant activity determined using the ABTS method was 168.9 \(\pm\) 2.9 \(\upmu\)mol Trolox/g for lavender flower extracts and 274.8 \(\pm\) 0.7 \(\upmu\)mol Trolox/g for leaf extracts [61]. Another parameter evaluated in the presented study was the in vitro sun protection factor (SPF). This parameter is important for the initial evaluation of the photoprotective ability of the studied extracts. In most cases, higher SPF values were observed for the herb extracts evaluated twelve months after their preparation as compared to the extracts evaluated immediately after preparation. Similar results were obtained for flower extracts. It should be noted that no statistically significant differences were observed between herb extracts assayed immediately after their preparation and after twelve months later.