NATURAL ANTIOXIDANTS IN MEDICINAL PLANTS

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are those which include reactive oxygen ions and peroxides and cause detrimental impacts at high concentrations to biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, protein and lipids, leading to pathological conditions in humans. Natural antioxidants, like phenolic acids, possess a unique chemical space which can protect cellular components from oxidative stress, but their polar carboxylic acid chemotype reduces full intracellular antioxidant potential due to limited diffusion through biological membranes. Antioxidants are those molecules which are involved in the scavenging of these reactive species causing oxidative stress, and defined as those substances which could prevent the oxidation of substrate at low concentrations.The main aim of the manuscript is survey on the importance of antioxidants and introduce the most common medicinal plants from East of Asia to West of Asia for prevention and treatment of diseases.