Some current oils and their main components were studied to determine
their antioxidant values. This was done by using the modified method of
ferric reducing ability of plasma. It has been established that
volatile oils of medicinal plants have on average a reducing capacity
of 3.5-220 mmol/kg oil. The reducing capacities of the main
constituents of volatile oils are 0.165-65.5 mmol/kg in concentrated
oils. The highest reducing capacity was showd for phellandrene (65.438
+/- 0.166 mmol/kg) and anethole (50.087 +/- 0.160 mmol/kg) while the
lowest values were obtained for menthol (0.165 +/- 0.023 mmol/kg) and
menthone (0.168 +/- 0.010 mmol/kg). It has been stated that the
antioxidant values of the main constituents are lower than those of
volatile oils. The reducing capacity of the main constituents of
medicinal plant drugs at different concentrations was also determined.