3.3.1. DPPH radical scavenging activity The scavenging activity of the O. ficus-indica flowers extracts was evaluated by the DPPH radical scavenging assay which is largely reported to screening antioxidant capacity due to their simplicity,stability and rapidity (Prior et al., 2005). DPPH radical is scavenged by antioxidants compounds present in the extracts by the proton donation to form the reduced DPPH which can be quantified by its decrease of absorbance (Shimada et al., 1992). The results showed variations in DPPH scavenging activity in the O. ficus-indica flowers extracts prepared by Soxhlet (Fig. 1a) and maceration extraction(Fig. 1b). Differences in polarity and thus different extractability of the anti oxidative components may explain the variation inDPPH radical scavenging activity of the extracts. ACE and MeOH extracts prepared using the SE and the ME, respectively, exhibitthe most important activities (76.9–97.6% and 76.2–94.2%, respectively) (Fig. 1a and b). DPPH free radical scavenging activities of the extracts obtained using the SE are generally higher compared to those obtained using the ME. In fact, the extracts obtained using the SE do not require high concentrations (200–400 g/ml) to inhibit more than 80% of DPPH comparatively to extracts prepared using the ME.