Chloe N. Sloop, B.S., B.A.: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Objectives: Consumption of food and drink abundant in naturally occurring antioxidants protects against oxidative damage. While existing evidence demonstrates the antiradical effects of dark chocolate samples, little is known about the antioxidant properties of chocolate almond milk. This study aimed to examine the antioxidant capacity of commercially available chocolate almond milk samples compared to non-chocolate counterparts using the 2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS•+) radical assay. We hypothesized that the chocolate milk samples would have significantly greater decreases in absorbance than the plain almond milk, indicating a higher antioxidant capacity.
Methods: Blue Diamond® Almond Breeze Unsweetened Chocolate almond milk and Blue Diamond® Almond Breeze Unsweetened Plain almond milk samples (n = 3 chocolate, n = 3 plain) of 5 μL were added to 2.995 mL of dilute ABTS•+ radical solution and were mixed by repetitive aspiration five times. Absorbance was measured spectrophotometrically upon adding milk into the radical solution followed by measurements every 30 seconds over 15 minutes. Data are reported as percent change in absorbance with standard deviation. Independent t-tests were performed to determine if differences between chocolate and plain samples were statistically significant with p < 0.05.
Results: The average percent change in absorbance of radical solutions containing chocolate almond milk was 39.2% +/- 1.6% over 15 minutes while the average percent decrease in absorbance of solutions containing plain almond milk was found to be 13.3% +/- 0.2%. A statistically significant difference was observed between chocolate and plain almond milk samples (t(2) = 28.0, p = 0.000637).
Conclusions: The substantially greater reduction in absorbance of the Blue Diamond® chocolate almond milk indicates that the chocolate milk has a higher antioxidant capacity compared to the plain almond milk. The cacao content of chocolate milk is likely intrinsically linked to increased antioxidant activity and may be due to the presence of polyphenols such as flavonoids or procyanidins. Further research into the polyphenolic content of chocolate and plain almond milks should be conducted to corroborate this research.
Funding Sources: Funding was provided by the Department of Chemistry at Salem College.
