Antioxidants have been widely used as food additives to
provide protection against oxidative degradation of foods
[1]. The most commonly used synthetic antioxidants are
butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene
(BHT), Propyl gallate (PG), and butylated hydroquinone.
However, these synthetic antioxidants have side effects such
as liver damage and carcinogenesis [2]. Therefore, there is a
need for isolation and characterization of natural antioxidant
having less or no side effects, for use in foods or medicinal
materials in order to replace synthetic antioxidants [3]. The
importance of aromatic plants as natural antioxidants has
been well established [4, 5].