In Vitro Antioxidant activity of Mentha pulegium from Saudi Arabia

Mentha pulegium which is locally know as Al-Medina mint, is used in herbal teas or as additives in commercial spice mixtures for many foods to offer aroma and flavor. The objectives of this study were to examine the antioxidant activity and the total phenol and flavonoids contents of Mentha pulegium methanol extract. The In vitro antioxidant activity of Mentha pulegium methanol extract was evaluated using various methods, such as ferric-ferricyanide reducing assay and Cupric reducing antioxidant capacity assay. Total phenolic and flavonoid content of Mentha pulegium methanol extract were also determined. The obtained results showed that Mentha pulegium methanol extract have a very high phenol and flavonoid content (157.99 +/- 12.3 mg GAE/g DW and 16.96 +/- 1.48 mg RTE/g DW respectively). The methanol extract showed a significant reducing activity nearly equivalent to vitamin C. The results presented here indicate that Mentha pulegium cultivated in Saudi Arabia possess strong antioxidant activity.