Objective:To investigate antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of Tagetes minuta(T.minuta)essential oil.Methods:In the present study T.minuta essential oil was obtained from leaves of T.minuta via hydro-distillation and then was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.The antioxidant capacity of T.minuta essential oil was examined by measuring reactive oxygen,reactive nitrogen species and hydrogen peroxide scavenging.The anti-inflammatory activity of T.minuta essential oil was determined through measuring NADH oxidase,inducible nitric oxide synthase and TNF-αmRNA expression in lipopolysacharide-stimulated murine macrophages using realtime PCR.Results:Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis indicated that the main components in the T.minuta essential oil were dihydrotagetone(33.86%),E-ocimene(19.92%).tagetone(16.15%),cis-β-ocimene(7.94%),Z-ocimene(5.27%).limonene(3.1%)and epoxyocimene(2.03%).The T.minuta essential oil had the ability to scavenge all reactive oxygen/reactive nitrogen species radicals with IC_(50)12-15μg/mL,which indicated a potent radical scavenging activity.In addition,T.minuta essential oil significantly reduced NADH oxidase,inducible nitric oxide synthaseand TNF-αmRNA expression in the cells at concentrations of 50μg/mL,indicating a capacity of this product to potentially modulate/diminish immune responses.Conclusions:T.minuta essential oil has radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory activities and could potentially be used as a safe effective source of natural anti-oxidants in therapy against oxidative damage and stress associated with some inflammatory conditions. Objective: To investigate antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of Tagetes minuta (T. minuta) essential oil. Methods: In the present study T. minuta essential oil was obtained from leaves of T. minuta via hydro-distillation and then was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The antioxidant capacity of T. minuta essential oil was examined by measuring reactive oxygen, reactive nitrogen species and hydrogen peroxide scavenging. The anti-inflammatory activity of T. minuta essential oil was determined through measuring NADH oxidase, inducible nitric oxide synthase and TNF-α mRNA expression in lipopolysacharide-stimulated murine macrophages using realtime PCR. Results: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis that the main components in the T. minuta essential oil were dihydrotagetone (33.86%), E-ocimene (19.92%) The essential oil had the ability to scavenge all reactive (10.1%) and epoxyocimene (2.03%). oxygen / reactive nitrogen species with IC_ (50) 12-15 μg / mL, which indicates a potent radical scavenging activity. In addition, T. minuta essential oil significantly reduced NADH oxidase, inducible nitric oxide synthase and TNF-α mRNA expression in the cells at concentrations of 50 μg / mL, indicating a capacity of this product to potentially modulating / diminish immune responses. Conclusions: T. minuta essential oil has radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory activities and could potentially be used as a safe effective source of natural anti-oxidants in therapy against oxidative damage and stress associated with some inflammatory conditions.