Salvia leriifolia Benth. from Lamiaceae family is a plant native to Iran and Afghanistan with significant applications in medical, pharmaceutical and food industries. The aim of current investigation was to evaluate the composition and antioxidant activity of essential oils (EOs) of S. leriifolia growing naturally in Neyshabur and Bajestan (Northeast of Iran). The aerial parts of the plant were subjected to hydro-distillation and the EOs were analyzed with GC/MS. According to the results, 1,8-cineole (20.24%, 26.39 %), α-pinene (15.14%, 14.39 %) and β-pinene (24.33%, 26.01%) were the main constituents of the EOs of the plant populations in Bajestan and Neyshabur, respectively. Antioxidant activity of the EOs was measured by three different methods, 2,2´-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) and β-carotene bleaching (BCB). The total EO and three standards (α-pinene, β -pinene and 1,8-cineole) displayed a significant antioxidant effect in all assays. Antioxidant activities obtained by means of TBARS and BCB methods were higher than those measured by the DPPH assay. Moreover, BCB was proved to be the most appropriate method for measurement of antioxidant activity. The EOs of the plants grown in Neyshabur showed stronger antioxidant effects in comparison with those grown in Bajestan.

Nowadays, the use of a wide range of medicinal herbs such as saffron and its aromatic compounds is increasingly being regarded as natural sources of antioxidant properties. In addition to saffron stigma, saffron petal is a rich herbal source of antioxidant compounds. The present study was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications to study some of the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants of two species of wild saffron in Guilan Province compared with agronomic saffron (C. sativus). The results of this study showed that total phenol, flavonoids and anthocyanins in agronomic saffron were significantly higher than those in the other two species. The amount of flavonel in C. speciosus and the level of antioxidant activity (DPPH) in C. caspius were significantly higher than other species. The level of PPO activity in C. sativus and C. speciosus was significantly higher than that in C. caspius. However, there was no significant difference in the level of POD activity among the three studied species. Therefore, according to the results of this study, petals of different species of saffron are good sources of non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants and can be used as an available natural antioxidant in the food and pharmaceutical industries.