Antioxidant Activity of Plantago Species in Vegetative and Flowering Stages

Plantago L. genus (Plantaginaceae) includes a large number of species differing in salt tolerance; many of them are adapted to live in saline environments, thus making the genus Plantago a good model for comparative studies about responses to salinity stress (1). Plantago genus includes species well-known as medicinal plants and others can be used for food and animal feeding (P. coronopus, P. lanceo-lata, P. serraria). A large amount of data about the Plantago species usage refers to the leaves both in traditional and modern medicine. Extensive use of many Plantago species based on a remarkable variety of curative properties: astringent, antioxidant, etc (2). The seeds of several Plantago species are used as laxative, due to their emollient and diuretic properties. On the other hands, the seeds muci-lage is an excellent thickening agent used in cosmetics but also as a stabilizer in the ice-cream industry or chocolate products (3). In addition, some Plantago species are also included in the diet being used as fresh salads, soups or side dish as well as herbal tea (4). well as terpenoids (lo-liolid, oleanolic acid and ursolic acid) and tannins. Alkaloids (indicain, plantagonin) and some organic acids have also been detected (5). In addition, Plantago species could be regarded as a possible new source of natural antioxidants (6). Moreover, there is a scenario describing the future in terms of increasing salt-affected areas in agriculture, the scarce of fresh water, food crisis and continuously growing population (7). Thus, there is a serious demand for extending the knowledge about salini-ty tolerance in plants with economic potential. Nowaday there is a great interest focused on the natural food or medicinal plants due to their well-known abilities to scavenge free radicals, which are toxic. In this context, we tested the antioxidant activity of five Plantago species (P. schwarzenbergiana Schur), which have been collected different during vegetative and flowering stages. Plantago plant material has been collected from two saline areas located in Northeast (Valea Ilenei nature reserve) and SouthEast (Dobrogea –