## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Antioxidant Capacity of Spice Extracts  
In this study, the AC of spice extracts obtained with different solvents was evaluated using three different analytical methods: DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP. The results are presented in Figure 2. As observed, the solvent type significantly correlated with the AC of the prepared extracts (\(p\) < 0.05, Duncan test), as did the particular spice used. When considering the AC values for individual extracts, it was found that mostly pure ethanolic samples exhibited the highest AC. The exceptions to this trend were CloEtW, CarEtW, and CorEtW, which demonstrated the highest DPPH values of 2199.5, 51.1, and 168.3 \(\upmu\)mol TE/g DM, respectively. This can be explained by the fact that clove, cardamom, and coriander were richer sources of antioxidant components extracted in higher amounts in more polar solvents such as aqueous ethanol. These antioxidants, better solubilized in the 70% ethanol solution, were more capable of quenching the purple DPPH free radicals through hydrogen atoms or via electron donation, thereby converting them into a yellow-colored non-radical form. Interestingly, these findings were consistent with earlier reported data. For instance, the AC of the same spices used in our study (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, and coriander) had been examined previously after extraction by a mixture of ethanol:water (1:1) and pure ethanol [27]. That analysis revealed that 50% ethanolic spice extracts exhibited higher ABTS (1119.9, 2071.1, 46.1, and 14.1 \(\upmu\)mol TE/g DM for cinnnamon, clove, cardamom, and coriander, respectively) than the ABTS of pure ethanolic extracts of these spices (1057.1, 926.8, 23.7, and 5.6 \(\upmu\)mol TE/g DM for cinnnamon, clove, cardamom, and coriander, respectively). The only exceptions were nutmeg and ginger, for which pure ethanolic extracts had higher ABTS (358.5 and 52.8 \(\upmu\)mol TE/g DM) than ABTS of 50% ethanolic extracts (289.8 and 39.4 \(\upmu\)mol TE/g DM) [27]. Figure 2: The antioxidant capacity (AC) of spices determined by the DPPH (**a**), ABTS (**b**), and FRAP (**c**) methods. Bars with different lowercase letters (a–f) indicate significant differences between the AC of extracts obtained using the same solvent. Bars with different capital letters (A–E) represent significant differences in the AC of extracts obtained using the same spice (one-way ANOVA and Duncan test, \(p<0.05\)). Importantly, the highest AC determined by all three analytical methods was observed for clove extracts (DPPH = 602.7-2199.5 umol TE/g DM; ABTS = 2220.7-10350.3 umol TE/g DM; FRAP = 341.1-1385.1 umol TE/g DM). These observations align consistently with the results reported by other researchers. For example, [PERSON] et al. [28] investigated the AC and phenolic profiles of a range of spices, including cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom. They found that of all the spices studied, clove extracts obtained by different solvents (50% ethanol, ethanol, and water) demonstrated the highest values of DPPH (546.88-1141.34 umol TE/g), ABTS (1020.45-2495.85 umol TE/g), and FRAP (447.37-1310.91 umol TE/g). In another study, ultrasound-assisted surfactant micellar extraction was used to isolate phenolic antioxidants from spices such as cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and black cardamom [29]. Similar to our results, it was observed that cinnamon and clove were characterized by the highest FRAP, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and ceric reducing/antioxidant capacity (CRAC). In previous research, clove extracts were found to contain bioactive compounds such as protocatechuic acid, caffeic acid, and p-hydroxybenzoic acid. These phenolic acids are known for their strong antioxidant properties. Therefore, it may be assumed that the high AC determined for clove extracts may be attributed to the presence of these compounds in the extracts [28; 30].