THE ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING POTENTIAL OF TWO MEDICINALS PLANTS SALVIA OFFICINALIS AND PHLOMIS SAMIA

Abstract

In recent years considerable attention has been devoted To medicinal plants with antioxidant properties. The properties are commonly postulated to play an important role in preventing diseases caused by oxidative stress, such as cancer, coronary arteriosclerosis, and the ageing processes . There is much literature concerning the antioxidant properties of many species of genus Salvia. for their 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH.) free radical scavenging activities Among them, Salvia officinalis leaf extracts have been shown to be the most active with effective dose (EC50)of 17lg/ml, followed by the genus Phlomis by (EC50 =32 lg/ml) Which for the first time studyed in oure search . For its high antioxidant activity, S. oficinalis besides rosemary is widely used commercially in foodstuffs. There is evidence that antioxidant properties of sage and phlomis extracts are mainly attributed to the abietane-type diterpenoids (carnosic acid and carnosol) and cafeic acid derivatives (e.g., rosmarinic acid) Flavonoids and certain components of essential oil.