There isagrowinginterestofindustrytoreplacesyntheticchemicalsbynaturalproductswithbioactive
properties fromplantorigin.Theaimofthisstudywastodeterminethechemicalcompositionofessen-
tial oilsof Calamintha origanifolia (Labill.) Boissand Micromeria myrtifolia Boiss., twoLamiaceaespecies
collected inLebanon,andtocharacterizethe in vitro antioxidant activitiesoftheirextractsandofthe
essential oils.Theessentialoilsfromaerialpartsofthetwoplantswereisolatedbyhydrodistillation
technique usingaClevenger-typeapparatus.Theextractswerepreparedwiththreesolventsofdifferent
polarity (n-hexane, chloroformandmethanol).Atotalof97constituentswereidentifiedin M. myrtifolia
and C. origanifolia oils usingGC/MS;themaincomponentsdetectedwere -caryophyllene togetherwith
caryophyllene oxideandhexadecanoicacidin M. myrtifolia while isomenthone,menthone,pulegoneand
-bisabolol werethemaincompoundsin C. origanifolia. The methanolextractsofbothspeciesexhibited
the highestphenolcontentandwerefoundtobesignificantlymoreactivethanchloroformandhexane
extracts whenassayedbyDPPH˙radicalscavengingandferricionreduction(FRAP)assays.Theresultsof
this studyprovideaclearpictureofthevolatilesof M. myrtifolia and C. origanifolia and demonstratethat
these plantspecieshaveanhugepotentialasanalternativetochemicaladditivesforthefoodindustry
due totheirantioxidantproperties