*2.1. Chemicals*

Acetonitrile, ethyl acetate, methanol (MeOH), hexane, water HPLC grade (H2O), β-mercaptoethanol (β-ME), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), boric acid (H3BO3), hydrochloric acid (HCl), glutaraldehyde, osmium tetroxide, polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP), potassium hydroxide solution (KOH 0.1 M), sodium acetate (CH3COONa), sodium phosphate monobasic (NaH2PO4), sodium phosphate dibasic (Na2HPO4), Triton X-114 and uranyl acetate were acquired from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA) along with 6- hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchromane-2-carboxylic acid (Trolox), linoleic acid, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, catechin, gallic acid and vanillin. Epoxy EMbed 812 resin was purchased from Electron Microscopy Sciences (Hatfield, PA, USA). Acetic acid (CH3COOH), ethanol (EtOH), sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and KOH were purchased from DEQ (Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico).
