## 3 Results and Discussion
### Antioxidant Capacity  
All polyphenols determined in the current study are known as bioactive molecules with health-promoting benefits, such as influencing several types of cancer, inflammation, autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease [110; 111; 112; 113]. Still, they also have antioxidant properties, which are crucial in functional beverage development. The most frequent in vitro assays that have been used to evaluate antioxidant capacity are DPPH and ORAC. The ORAC assay is a fluorescence method that involves a hydrogen atom transfer mechanism. The DPPH assay is a spectrophotometric method based on a single electron-transfer reaction and hydrogen atom transfer [114]. The results of antioxidant capacity in herbal extracts of \(S\), \(WT\), and \(L\) and their two- and three-component mixtures determined by the DPPH and ORAC methods are presented in Table 2. Both methods showed a high antioxidant capacity for the \(L\) extract. Although two-component mixtures with the \(L\) extract had lower TPC and TFC content, they had a higher antioxidant capacity (DPPH and ORAC), as proven by both assays. These results can be explained by the high content of hydroxybenzoic acids in the \(L\) extract and potentially synergism with other compounds (such as flavonols and hydroxycinnamic acids) that contributed to antioxidant capacity due to their chemical structure and are determined to be present in high amounts in the current study. Electron donor groups of phenolic acids (phenolic hydroxyl and carboxylic acid groups) may reduce the dissociation energy of the phenolic hydroxyl bond, thus amplifying the ability to remove free radicals. Additionally, the increasing number of phenolic hydroxyl and methoxy groups in phenolic acids enhances antioxidant activity [115]. The number and configuration of hydroxyl groups in flavonoids and condensed tannins substantially influence antioxidant activity. The structures of flavonoids that possess catechol structure and hydroxyl groups at the 3'-, 4'-, and 5'-positions in the B-ring, and 2,3 double bond combined with a 3-OH and 4-oxo group in the C-ring, are considered to be associated with more significant antioxidant activity [116]. When comparing the antioxidant capacity of \(S\) and \(WT\) based on DPPH analysis, a slightly higher value was present in the \(S\) extracts (578.81 \(\pm\) 5.19 \(\upmu\)m) TE mL\({}^{-1}\)), followed by \(WT\) (544.13 \(\pm\) 5.19 \(\upmu\)m) TE mL\({}^{-1}\)). These results are consistent with previous research reported by [PERSON] et al. [61]. They confirmed more effective radical scavenging activity of \(S\) extracts (180.81-236.43 mg TE g\({}^{-1}\) extract and 3.42-7.08 g TE 100 g\({}^{-1}\) herbal) compared to the _WT_ extracts (161.61-185.89 mg TE g\({}^{-1}\) extract and 1.90-2.65 g TE 100 g\({}^{-1}\) herbal) for the DPPH assay. The results obtained using the ORAC assay also pointed to the \(L\) extract possessing the highest antioxidant capacity (1896.10 \(\pm\) 8.77 \(\upmu\)mol TE mL\({}^{-1}\)). [PERSON] and [PERSON] [47] reported ORAC analysis of 27 culinary herbs and 12 medicinal herbs, including \(L\), \(S\) and some other herbs from the genus _Thymus_, such as _T. vulgaris_ and _Thymus_\(\times\)_citridorus_. \(L\) showed higher antioxidant capacity than \(S\) (31.70 \(\pm\) 0.97 \(\upmu\)mol g\({}^{-1}\) of fresh weight and 13.28 \(\pm\) 0.40 \(\upmu\)mol g\({}^{-1}\)) and all _Thymus_ species. As far as we know, there is still no research about synergistic interactions between the \(L\), \(S\) and _WT_ extracts. Still, some studies have reported a synergic interaction between bioactive molecules in some other herbal extracts. [PERSON] et al. [117] reported synergism between the \(S\), _WT_ and \(\mathrm{ziziphora}\) (_Ziziphora bungeana_ Juz.) extracts with black or green tea. The mixtures resulted in an increased antioxidant effect. [PERSON] et al. [49] demonstrated the highest antioxidant capacity for an herbal extract made of mulberry leaves and a mixture of mulberry leaves and cinnamon bark.