## 3 Results and Discussion
#### 3.1.2 Reducing Sugars and Antioxidant Characteristics  
Table 3 presents the reducing sugars content and antioxidant capacity of _L. cylindrica_ seed press cake powder and its blends with tapioca flour, evaluated through multiple assays using both ethanolic and aqueous extraction methods. The reducing sugar content showed significant variations among samples, ranging from 4.13 \(\pm\) 0.37 to 8.05 \(\pm\) 0.68 mg glucose equivalent/g dry matter. Pure _L. cylindrica_ powder (LP 100%) exhibited the highest reducing sugar content at 8.05 \(\pm\) 0.68 mg GE/g DM, significantly higher than all other samples. It has been confirmed that simple sugars can also lead to the formation of Maillard reaction products in the presence of amino acids at lower temperatures [44; 45]. However, since the mixtures of luffa powder and tapioca flour were not subjected to heat treatment at this stage, the formation of Maillard reaction products was not expected. It has been shown that the total amino acid content in _Luffa cylindrica_ can be as high as 32.1 g/100 g. It is indicated that the amino acid found in the largest amount in this raw material is glutamic acid [46]. The DPPH radical scavenging activity in ethanolic extracts ranged from 4.58 \(\pm\) 0.18 to 5.68 \(\pm\) 0.07 mg Trolox equivalent/g DM. LP 100% showed the lowest activity at 4.58 \(\pm\) 0.18 mg TE/g DM; the following blends exhibited higher values: LP30/TF70 and TF 100%, both at 5.68 \(\pm\) 0.07 and 5.66 \(\pm\) 0.13 mg TE/g DM, respectively. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Sample**} & \multirow{2}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} **Reducing Sugars** \\ **lmg GLE/g DM** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**DPPH**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**ABTS**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**FRAP**} \\ \cline{3-8}  & & **[mg TE/g DM]** & & **[mg TE/g DM]** & & **[mg FeSOA/g DM]** \\ \cline{3-8}  & & **EOH** & **H\({}_{2}\)O** & **EOH** & **H\({}_{2}\)O** & **EOH** & **H\({}_{2}\)O** \\ \hline LP 100\% & 8.05 \(\pm\) 0.68 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 4.58 \(\pm\) 0.18 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 4.25 \(\pm\) 0.25 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 4.56 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 3.67 \(\pm\) 0.70 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.101 \(\pm\) 0.007 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.126 \(\pm\) 0.016 \({}^{\text{c}}\) \\ LP30/TF70 & 5.32 \(\pm\) 1.31 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 5.68 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 4.55 \(\pm\) 0.51 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 5.26 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 5.72 \(\pm\) 0.33 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 0.046 \(\pm\) 0.006 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.090 \(\pm\) 0.023 \({}^{\text{b}}\) \\ LP50/TF50 & 4.13 \(\pm\) 0.37 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 5.15 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 4.91 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 5.19 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 5.11 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 0.053 \(\pm\) 0.015 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.050 \(\pm\) 0.000 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ LP70/TF30 & 5.10 \(\pm\) 0.92 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 5.04 \(\pm\) 0.13 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 4.41 \(\pm\) 0.15 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 5.06 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 4.66 \(\pm\) 0.12 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.070 \(\pm\) 0.001 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 0.109 \(\pm\) 0.010 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) \\ TF 100\% & 6.90 \(\pm\) 0.20 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 5.66 \(\pm\) 0.13 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 6.27 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 6.11 \(\pm\) 0.18 \({}^{\text{e}}\) & 6.33 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\text{e}}\) & 0.072 \(\pm\) 0.038 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 0.041 \(\pm\) 0.005 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ sample & & ** & & ** & & ns \\ solvent & & ** & & ns & & ns \\ sample * solvent & & ** & & ns & & ns \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Reducing sugars content and antioxidant capacity of _L. cylindrica_ seed press cake powder and blends. Tapioca is a product obtained from cassava root (_Manihot esculenta_), which, in terms of composition, is almost pure starch; therefore, the content of antioxidant components in this raw material is relatively low [47; 48]. However, it has been confirmed that cassava root, which is the source of tapioca, contains antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, flavonoids, tannins, and saponins [49].