Abstract

TOP EDIBLE WILD PLANTS OF EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN REGION. PART V: ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY

Abdullatif Azab*

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Abstract

This is the fifth review in a series of articles that present the major medicinal activities and the phytochemistry of the most important wild edible plants of eastern Mediterranean region, which we named as the “Deca-plants” (D-P). The previous articles discussed the anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and antimicrobial and/or antiviral activities. The antioxidant activities of the D-P vary from moderate to very strong, and due to their nutritional importance, this medicinal, biological property, give them special health relevance and importance. With antioxidant property, eating these plants help their consumers avoid and ease oxidative stress that contributes and is involved in almost all known diseases. Since antioxidant activity is one of the most tested activities of plant materials, the literature reports about it are numerous and the number of methods and tests is very large, so we had to limit our review to the major publications. The major phytochemicals responsible for the antioxidant activities of the D-P will be indicated. Finally, for comparison and usefulness, in the last part of this article, five Non-Deca-Plants with notable, reported antioxidant activity will be shortly reviewed, when the criteria of selection are wild and edible.

Keywords: ROS, oxidative stress, antioxidant, DPPH, ascorbic acid, SOD, FRAP, plant extracts, essential oils, BHT.