VEGETABLE PRODUCT WITH ANTIOXIDANT EFFECT AND PROCESS FOR PREPARING THE SAME

The invention relates to a product to be used as an antioxidant additive in food products and to a process for preparing the same. According to the invention, the product consists of a complex of polyphenolic compounds with a flavonoid content of 25-30% m/m expressed as rutoside and 25-30% polyphenolcarboxylic acids, expressed as caffeic acid, isolated from the mixture comprising Crataergi sp. flores et folium, Salviae sp. herba and Cichorii herba in a ratio of 1 : 1 : 1 m/m/m, exhibiting an antioxidant protective index of 160% in vitro and 82-97% in vivo. The claimed process consists in subjecting the vegetable material to the reflux extraction with methyl alcohol in a vegetable material/alcohol ratio of 1/12 m/v, for 3 h, the extract being then separated and concentrated at reduced pressure, up to a volume of 1:1 v/m as compared with the starting material, the methanolic extract being diluted with water and the methyl alcohol being distilled at reduced pressure, after which the resulting aqueous solution is maintained at a temperature of 5-10°C for 24 h, the clorophyillic residue is separated, the aqueous solution is washed under stirring with non-polar solvents and extracted 3 times with selective solvents in a ratio of 1 : 1 v/v and the organic extracts are concentrated at reduced pressure or atomized, thereby resulting a bioactive antioxidant product.