The essential oil from seeds of Forsythia suspense (Thunb.) Vahl. was analyzed by GC-MS, and 63 components were identified by comparision with the standard mass spectrogram. Among of the components, the terpenoid was more then 70 percent. The content of indentified componenes was 98.91 percent of the whole oil. The main chemical components of the oil were β-Pinene(47.78%),β-Phellandrene(14.91%) and α-Pinene(14.02%).The iodine and silicon components were also identified in 0.76% and 0.55%, respectively. The antioxidant activities of the oil were assayed through scavenging effects to DPPH and superoxide anion free radical (O·2). The results indicated that essential oil from seeds of Forsythia suspense (Thunb.) Vahl. showed much high antioxidant activity and the scavenging effects to DPPH and (O·2) were more than 90%. The study could provide theoretical foundation for further studying and developing of the essential oil from seeds of Forsythia suspense (Thunb.) Vahl.

essential oil from seeds of Forsythia suspense (Thunb.) Vahl.;GC-MS; antioxidantive activitie