Abstract

The review is aimed at summarizing the most important and common natural antioxidants and their resources from traditional Irani and Chinese medicinal sciences. The most important medicinal plants with antioxidant activities in Iran are Artemisia, berberry fruit, borage, calendula, coriander, cumin, green tea, hawthorn, jujube, pomegranate, rose, rosemary, black zira, tea, and thyme. Important traditional medicinal plants with antioxidant activities in China are Asparagus, bindii, blueberries, camellia, Chinese bayberry, Chinese bitter melon, Chinese cabbage, Chinese cherry, Chinese jujube, Chinese olive, pomegranate, Chinese rose tea, Chinese toon, Chinese watermelon, black tea, knotweed, Chinese quince, Chinese rhubarb, sumac, wolfberry, dendrobium, drumstick tree, Fiscus species, ginger, ginkgo, goji berry, grape, Jerusalem thorn, kiwifruit seed oil, and licorice root. The present review article highlights the most important medicinal plants which have been used in Iran and China as traditional herbal medicines for hundreds of years due to their tremendous antioxidant activities.

Keywords: Antioxidant, medicinal plants, traditional Iranian medicine, natural products, traditional chinese medicine, asparagus.