*3.1. Chemicals*

Metaphosphoric acid, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH),NaOH, nitroblue tetrazolium, dichlorophenol-indophenol (DCPID),2,2 -azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammoniumsalt (ABTS•+), 6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchromane-2-carboxyl acid (Trolox), phenazine methosulphate, ethanol, gallic acid, ethylenediaminetetraaceticacid (EDTA), ferrozine, 2,4,6-tris(2-piridil)-s-triazina(TPTZ) and iron sulphate heptahydrate were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, USA). Acetonitrile and acetic acid were HPLC-grade and were purchased from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). All the phenolic standards were obtained from Extra Syntheses (Genay, France). Solvents and reagents for carotenoid detection were purchasedfrom Panreac (Barcelona, Spain). Other chemicals were of analyticalgrade purchased from Carlo Erba Reagents s.r.l. (Cornaredo, MI, Italy).
