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The opioid epidemic in the USA, the new psychoactive substances emerging on the market and the recent increase in cocaine treatment demands in Western Europe, all emphasise the importance of monitoring the use and harms of drugs over time. To be informed about new consumption patterns, this study aims to study the trends among people entering treatment for substance use in Belgium.

Belgian data from the Treatment Demand Indicator collected between 2015 and 2019 were used. A reference group of treatment units was selected to allow for comparisons between the different years. Trend analysis was performed by using a joinpoint regression among different regions and groups of clients.

The drugs of choice that were most frequently mentioned among the 23,000 analysed treatment episodes were alcohol and cannabis. Both remained relatively stable over time. Heroin seemed to be decreasing significantly at the national level, but increased in Brussels. Benzodiazepines decreased significantly in Flanders and Brussels, but not in Wallonia. On the other hand, reports of crack cocaine increased significantly in the three regions with a more pronounced trend in Wallonia and Brussels. Substances such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, ketamine or volatile inhalants have been mentioned significantly more by people entering treatment in 2019, although their contribution to the total number is still limited.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to evaluate trends for all drugs of choice at a national and regional level. These results might not only benefit national policymakers but also other countries with similar alcohol or drug use patterns.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the antioxidant properties and phenol content of methanolic extracts of six white varieties and six purple/brown varieties of Indian rice and to find some relationship between the antioxidant properties, phenolic content in the varieties analyzed.

Methanolic extracts of different rice varieties were analyzed for their superoxide radical scavenging activity, 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, total antioxidant capacity, reducing power and ferrous ion chelating properties. The extracts were analyzed for determination of total phenol content, anthocyanin content, oryzanol content. Phenolic acids were determined by HPLC.

All the rice varieties (white and purple/brown) showed activity in a dose‐dependent manner. Free phenolic acids, e.g. protocatechuic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, p‐coumaric acid (PCA), ferulic acid and sinapic acid and the phenolic aldehyde vanillin could be detected in all the rice samples analyzed. No relationship could be established between activity and metabolite content. Principal component analysis and classification shows that superoxide radical scavenging activity, total phenolic acid, protocatechuic acid and ferulic acid are the components to differentiate the varieties from each other.

Little work has been done on the antioxidant activity of white rice. The authors report superoxide radical scavenging activity, DPPH radical scavenging activity, total antioxidant activity, reducing power and ferrous ion chelating properties and phenolic contents of six white varieties and six purple/brown varieties of Indian rice. Free phenolic acids like protocatechuic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, PCA, ferulic acid and sinapic acid are reported from all the 12 varieties of rice.