Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) Colorimetric Assay Kit

Antioxidants play an important role in preventing the formation of and scavenging of free radicals and other potentially toxic oxidizing species. There are three categories of antioxidant species: enzyme systems (GSH reductase, catalase, peroxidase, etc.), small molecules (ascorbate, uric acid, GSH, vitamin E, etc.) and proteins (albumin, transferrin, etc.). Different antioxidants vary in their reducing power. Trolox is used to standardize antioxidants, with all other antioxidants being measured in Trolox equivalents. Measurement of the combined nonenzymatic antioxidant capacity of biological fluids and other samples provides an indication of the overall capability to counteract reactive oxygen species (ROS), resist oxidative damage and combat oxidative stress-related diseases. In some cases, the antioxidant contribution of proteins is desired whereas in other cases only the contribution of the small molecule antioxidants is needed. BioVision developed the TAC Assay Kit, which can measure either the combination of both small molecule antioxidants and proteins or small molecules alone in the presence of our proprietary Protein Mask. Cu²ᶧ ion is converted to Cu+ by both small molecule and protein. The Protein Mask prevents Cu²ᶧ reduction by protein, enabling the analysis of only the small molecule antioxidants. The reduced Cu+ ion is chelated with a colorimetric probe giving a broad absorbance peak around 570 nm, proportional to the total antioxidant capacity.