Fumaria vaillantii (Fumariaceae) is an annual plant which is growing in a wide diversity area of Iran which has been used traditionally in the folk medicine. Antioxidants have great importance regarding to reduce oxidative stress which could cause damage to biological molecules. The present study was designed to investigate the antioxidant activity of ethanolic extract from aerial parts of Fumaria vaillantii L. by using three different methods including 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and Phosphomolybdenum complex at three different growth stages. In addition, total phenolic contents of the extracts were determined using Folin-Ciocalteu method. According to the results, the total phenol contents of aerial parts harvested at vegetative, budding and flowering stages were 68.38, 71.11 and 56.42 mg GAE/g extract, respectively. Antioxidant activities of the extracts decreased from vegetative to flowering stages in DPPH and FRAP methods. Therefore, ethanolic extract from vegetative stage of Iranian F. vaillantii can be considered as a potential source of natural antioxidants for food and pharmaceutical industries.

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