الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 168 |  |  |
| | | from | 168 | | |
Abstract
In the recent years, there has been a gradual revival of interest in the use of medicinal plants in developing countries because hearbl medicines have been reported safe and without any adverse side effect especially when compared with synthetic drugs.
Borago officinalis L., is an herbaceous plant that belongs to Boraginaceae family, consumed in many Mediterranean countries and considered in some of them a highly appreciated luxyry product because of its characteristic taste. The edible part of the plant are the stems which are cooked prior to consumption, whereas the leaves are discarded. Borage seeds are traditionally known by its oil that has demonstrator certain beneficial effects associated to the high content of γ–linolenic acid (Khan and Shahidi, 2000). The ethanolic extract of defatted borage seeds showed the presence of antioxidant phenolic compounds which were further evaluated in a meat model system (Wettastinghe and Shahdi, 1999). Bandoniene and Mukovic (2002) mentioned that the methanolic extracts of borage leaves have a high radical quenching ability due to the presence of rosmarinic acid among other phenolic compounds.
Antioxidant compounds provide protection against harmful free radicals and have been strongly associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, alzheimers disease, cataracts and age related functional decline, in addition to health benefits (Gundgaard et al., 2003).
Many health effects have been attributed to the borago plant such as, antispasmodic, antihyperpertensive, antipyretic, aphrodisiac, demulcent and diuretic properties . It is also considered useful to treat asthma, cramps, diarrhea, palpitations, and kidney ailments (Gilani et