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Dittrichia graveolens (Asteraceae) is an aromatic and annual plant. The aim of this study is the evaluation of total phenolic, flavonoid and flavonol content, the antioxidant activities and other important medicinal secondary metabolites of this plant. According to the results, the total amount of phenols and flavonoid in different plant organs of D. graveolens were different in a way that the content of total phenols and flavonoid in the flowers and leaves were significantly more than the stems and roots. The content of flavonol in the flowers, leaves and stems were not significantly different, and the lowest content was observed in the roots. In addition, the linear and significant correlation coefficient was found between the antioxidant activity and the phenolic compounds in the extracts of different organs of the plant. The main components in different extracts were Bornyl acetate and α-Cadinol in flower extract, Borneol, Bornyl acetate, Thymol and Calarene in leaf extract and PMAMOMPE, Safrole, Carvacryl acetate, Vulgarone B and Bornyl acetate in root extract. On the whole, the current results compared with the results of other researchers indicates the remarkable impact of plant habitat on the quality and quantity of pharmaceutical compounds in different organs of the plant

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Melissa officinalis is a medicinal plant belong to  lamiacea family.  This plant has been cultivated in many parts of the world due to its therapeutic effects. This study was conducted to improve antioxidant activities of proliferated shoots from tissue culture. The seeds of plant   were cultured in MS hormone free medium in order to obtain   seedlings. Then the  shoots were transfer to MS medium supplemented with 2 mg/ L  BAP.After 45 days salicylic acid (SA) was added to the medium at concentrations of 0, 50, 100 and 200 µM. The antioxidant activity and phenolics, flavonoids and rosmarinic acid content in proliferated shoots were evaluated 4,7,10 and 14 days after treatment. As a result the highest free radical scavenging and reducing power activity, as well as the highest value of total phenolic   and rosmarinic acid were observed in shoots   after 14 days of treatment with 100 µM salicylic acid. The elevated level of superoxide anion scavenging activity      and total flavonoids        were obtained from the shoots treated with 50 µM salicylic acid for 14 days. Over all treatment with100 µM salicylic acid for 14 days was better in order to antioxidant activity and compounds with recognized antioxidant activity.

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Nowadays, the use of a wide range of medicinal herbs such as saffron and its aromatic compounds is increasingly being regarded as natural sources of antioxidant properties. In addition to saffron stigma, saffron petal is a rich herbal source of antioxidant compounds. The present study was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications to study some of the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants of two species of wild saffron in Guilan Province compared with agronomic saffron (C. sativus). The results of this study showed that total phenol, flavonoids and anthocyanins in agronomic saffron were significantly higher than those in the other two species. The amount of flavonel in C. speciosus and the level of antioxidant activity (DPPH) in C. caspius were significantly higher than other species. The level of PPO activity in C. sativus and C. speciosus was significantly higher than that in C. caspius. However, there was no significant difference in the level of POD activity among the three studied species. Therefore, according to the results of this study, petals of different species of saffron are good sources of non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants and can be used as an available natural antioxidant in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
 

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Malathion is one of the commonest type of organophosphate insecticide whose toxicity in human body is mainly considered to result from the induction of oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant effect of Quercetin, a flavonoid compound, on the spatial memory and oxidative stress parameters during Malathion poisoning in male Wistar rats. This study was performed on nine groups, each of which consisted of eight male rats. Three days after intra-peritoneal injection of Quercetin, Malathion or a combination of these two drugs, the Moris Water-Maze apparatus was used to measure spatial memory parameters. The hippocampus was sampled and the oxidative stress parameters were measured in this area. Intra-peritoneal injection of Malathion (100 and 200 mg/kg) significantly reduced spatial memory parameters (P<0.01) and induced oxidative stress (P<0.001), whereas intra-peritoneal injection of quercetin (50 mg/kg) improved spatial memory in Malathion-poisoned experimental rats (P<0.05). Also, oxidative stress parameters in Malathion-treated groups showed a significant reduction in quercetin treatment (P<0.01). Quercetin was observed to restore the function of spatial memory and the level of oxidative stress parameters of the treated groups with Malathion to the normal level.
 
 

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The Moldavian dragonhead (Dracocephalum moldavica L., Lamiaceae) is an annual medicinal plant with beneficial nutritional sources that plays important roles in human and animal feed. Nanoparticles and cold atmospheric plasma increase biochemical compounds in plants. In this study, the effects of copper nanoparticles and cold atmospheric plasma on biochemical indices of the medicinal plant Dracocephalum moldavica were investigated. Moldavian dragonhead plants were subjected to four doses of copper nanoparticles (0, 25, 50 and 75 mgl^-1) and cold atmospheric plasma at three durations (zero, 20 and 30 s). The results showed that cold atmospheric plasma significantly increases the essential oil percentage, while it decreases the amount of flavonoid content and activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes. Cold atmospheric plasma (20 s) showed significant positive impact on essential oil content, while different time duration (20 and 30 s) did not show a significant impact on other traits. Lower doses of copper nanoparticles (25 and 50 mgl^-1) showed positive impacts on measured traits, while 75 mgl^-1 dose negatively affected the measured traits and functioned as a heavy metal. The cold atmospheric plasma and copper nanoparticles interactions indicated that cold atmospheric plasma had an incremental effect on the improvement of measured traits and increased the effect of copper nanoparticles. In conclusion, the results showed that copper nanoparticles with 25 mgl^-1 dose along with cold atmospheric plasma with 20 s duration had significant positive effects on the improvement of biochemical indices of Dracocephalum moldavica.
 
 

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Basil is an important medicinal plant, belonging to the Lamiaceae family. Basil is used for the treatment of different diseases such as stomachache, headache, constipation, fever and infections, as well as to reduce and regulate the blood sugar. Moreover, Basil is known for its antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant properties. In this study, the impact of drought stress on phenols and flavonoids concentrations, as well as the antioxidant activities of leaf extract of three basil cultivars were investigated. Seeds of basil cultivars (mikhak, green, purple) were cultivated in sand-loamy soil and drought stresses (75%, 50% and 25% of the field capacity) were applied on six-leave plants. Experiments were conducted in a completely randomized design and three repeats. Total phenols, total flavonoids and flavonols concentrations of basil leaf extracts and their antioxidant activities were measured. The maximum values (with significant differences) of three groups of non-enzymatic antioxidants and the highest levels of antioxidant activities were observed for green cultivars under mild stresses (75% of the field capacity). It was observed that antioxidant activities were elevated by the increase of the concentration of the plant extract. Drought stress results in oxidative stress in basil plants. Phenols, flavonoids and flavonols are well-known as strong antioxidants have a role in the plant’s protection against the oxidative stress. In thrice cultivars of basil which were investigated, concentrations and abilities of these compounds to inhibit free radicals were decreased by the increase of the levels of drought stresses. It seems that both basil genotypes and drought stress levels affected the production of antioxidants studied and, consequently, have impacts on the plant inhibitory abilities against the oxidative stress.