How to express the antioxidant properties of substances properly?

Abstract

Oxidative stress, associated with an imbalance between the oxidants (reactive oxygen species) and the antioxidants in the body, contributes to the development of many diseases. The body’s fight against reactive oxygen species is supported by antioxidants. Nowadays, there are too many analytical methods, but there is no one universal technique for assessing antioxidant properties. Moreover, the applied different ways of expressing the results lead to their incompatibility and unreasonable interpretation. The paper is a literature review concerning the most frequent ways of antioxidant activities expression and for an easy and universal method of the obtained results discussion. This paper is an attempt to point out their disadvantages and advantages. The manuscript can support the searching interpretation of the obtained results which will be a good tool for the development of a number of fields, especially medicine what can help in the future detection and treatment of many serious diseases. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]