Antioxidant Capacity of Soft Drinks

Abstract Drinking is essential to life as we know it. Naturally tasteless, water can be made more pleasant to the taste in many ways. An important group of beverages can be defined as ‘soft drinks’ and it is composed of beverages without alcohol and usually with the addition of carbon dioxide. Billions of liters of such beverages in many different flavors are consumed every year. Soft drinks are roughly divided in two main categories based on the added ingredients like caramel, an artificially colored flavor, and natural fruit juice. Both contain, in different amounts, compounds that can act as antioxidants, like caramel, caffeine, or the particular polyphenolics present in the fruit juice. The group of beverages commonly known as ‘energy drinks’ contains mostly caffeine, taurine, and group B vitamins. They can, however, be better defined as liquid dietary supplements.