Antioxidant compounds in some herbaceous aromatic plants

Abstract

Fats and oils, contained in many foods and cosmetics, may easily deteriorate due to oxidative processes, causing both the development of off-flavours and the formation of free radicals, that may lead to various undesired chemical reactions. In order to prevent this process, some special synthetic substances, such as BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) and BHA (butylated hydroxyanesole), sodium nitrate and nitrite, sulphites, are added to the products to be preserved, and often to their packaging materials. Lately, synthetic antioxidants have provided a point for criticism, in relation to the possible effects of their use on public health. Therefore, and in the widespread belief that natural products are anyway healthier and safer than synthetic ones, the importance of finding out vegetable compounds able to take effectively the role of conventional antioxidants, and their investigation and economical verification, is greatly increasing. Many medicinal and aromatic plants, especially those belonging to the Labiatae family, are already well known for their preservative properties, both in food and in cosmetic preparations. In many cases, they are species widely spread in spontaneous Mediterranean flora, and their exploitation is one of the few economical possibilities for some marginal lands. This work reviews the major botanical, agronomic and chemical aspects of some aromatic plants, considered to exert antioxidant activities.