Antioxidative activity of sixty plants from Iran

ABSTRACT

Antioxidants are vital substances which possess the ability to protect the body from damage caused by free radical-induced oxidative stress. A variety of free radical scavenging antioxidants exists within the body which many of them are derived from dietary sources like fruits, vegetables and teas. This article describes a test method for screening the antioxidant activity of 60 Iranian plants of Iran by linoleic acid peroxidation test using 1, 3-diethyl-2-thiobarbituric acid as the reagent. Some plants including Achillea wilhelmsii, Berberis crataegina, Buxus hyrcana, Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium, Colutea persica, Hyoscyamus niger, Mentha pulegium, Nerium oleander, Pteropyrum aucheri, Rhus coriaria, Rosa canina, Scutellaria pinnatifida, Thymus pubescens, Verbascum alceoides and Ziziphora clinopodioides subsp. rigida showed antioxidant activity [0.41alpha-tocopherol [IC[50]=0.06 micro g], which was used as the positive control