Abstract: The volatile oil from Pyracantha fortuneana flowers was extracted by watersteam distillation and analyzed by GC-MS. The antioxidant activity of volatile oil was evaluated by DPPH·and sodium nitrite scavenging capacity with VC and BHT as the positive controls. Seventy-seven compounds, which occupied 83.77% of total constituents and contained many bioactive constituents, were identified. Terpenes and their derivatives (50.31%), alkanes (18.52%), and aldehydes (5.54%) were found to be dominant components in the volatile oil. The volatile oil exhibited significant scavenging capacity against DPPH·and sodium nitrite in a concentration-dependent fashion. When the scavenging rate against DPPH· and sodium nitrite of volatile oil was 50%, the volumes of volatile oil were 43.51 and 79.48 μL, respectively. The scavenging capacity against DPPH· of volatile oil was slightly worse than that of 1 mg·mL^-1 Vc and the scavenging capacity against sodium nitrite of volatile oil was better than that of 1 mg·mL^-1 BHT.

Key words: Pyracantha fortuneana flowers, volatile oil, chemical constituents, GC-MS, antioxidant activity