ANTIOXIDATIVE POTENCY OF PLANT MELLITIS MELISOPHYLLUM

<p>One of the paradoxes of life on the Earth is that, on one side, oxygen is necessary for living of aerobic organisms. On the other side, increased contrencations of oxygen and especially its reactive metabolites (reactive oxygen species) may lead to the development of number diseases such as Alzheimer, Parkinson, ischemia-reperfusion injury, coronary atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cancer genesis, as well as in the aging process (1, 2,3). Amajor source of free radicals in biological systems is molecular oxygen (O2). By interacting with fundamental cell structures and biomolecules, reactive oxygen species (ROS) can lead to the development of many pathophysiological disorders (4,5). Active principles from plant family Lamiaceae (flavonoids and phenolic compounds, polyphenols), like plant Mellitis melisophillum, may act as new potential antioxidants.</p>