## 4 Bioactive Properties
### Antioxidative Effects  
Oxidative stress refers to the imbalance between the antioxidative defense system and the production of oxidants (free radicals). The accumulation of oxidized lipids plays an important role in the incidence of many diseases such as diabetes, cancer, aging, etc. Therefore, compounds that reduce or prevent the production of oxidative products can be used to treat these diseases ([PERSON] et al., 2018). In a study conducted by [PERSON] and [PERSON] (2019), it was observed that the administration of ferritin (**18**), a daucane-type sesquiterpene ester, significantly reversed the decreasing trend of the expression of the antioxidant enzyme catalase observed in diabetic mice. In addition, for the first time, it described the antioxidant property of ferritin (**18**) on diabetes-related neuropathic pain, indicating that 1.6 mg/kg of ferritin (**18**) could reduce thermal hyperalgesia and tactile allodynia. At 500 and 1000 ug/kg mice body weight, ferritin (**18**) could significantly upregulate the gene expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in liver and kidney tissues, which are known to resist cellular oxidative stress. At the same concentration, it could also significantly decrease the lipid peroxidation in mice liver tissues ([PERSON] et al., 2018). An analog of ferritin (**18**), 2\(\alpha\)-acetyl ferritin (**19**) could rapidly reduce the mRNA levels of several intracellular antioxidative enzymes, such as catalase, Mn-superoxide dismutase (SOD2),nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2), peroxiredoxin (PRDX1), and thioredoxin (TRX) between 6 and 12 h, and it could also significantly induce intracellular glutathione (GSH) depletion in a time- and concentration-dependent manner [32]. In addition, the daucane esters referidin (**17**), ferritin (**18**), and referin (**21**) from _F. hermonis_ showed strong 2,2-diphenyl-1-(2,4,6-trintirophenyl)hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, with IC\({}_{50}\) values of 17.3, 13.2, and 11.5 uM, respectively, comparable to the positive control of ascorbic acid (12.5 uM). The significant increase in free radical scavenging activity is associated with an increase in the number of hydroxyl groups [205]. Umbelliprenin (**150**) is the first synthesized sesquiterpene coumarin in _Ferula_. In a study on the antigenotoxicity effects of umbelliprenin (**150**) on human peripheral lymphocytes exposed to oxidative stress [221], although umbelliprenin (**150**) showed no scavenging activity (4%), the protective activity of umbelliprenin (**150**) (10-400 mM) against DNA damage induced by 25 mM H\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{2}\) increased in a concentration-dependent manner. There was no significant difference between umbelliprenin (**150**) and ascorbic acid (positive standard) when the concentration exceeded 50 mM. Kamolonol acetate (**299**) is also a sesquiterpene coumarin extracted from _F. pseudalliacea_ with potent antioxidant activity. It displays strong DPPH radical scavenging activity, with an EC\({}_{50}\) value of 65.29 \(\pm\) 5.6 uM, which is similar to that of the positive control, butylatedhydroxyanisole (BHA), at 59.85 \(\pm\) 3.7 uM [222]. [PERSON] et al. [223] evaluated the antioxidative activities of several compounds isolated from _F. peminervis_ and _F. pallida_, with the sesquiterpene coumarin KT23 (Pallidone A) (**359**) having moderate antioxidative properties. Compared with \(\alpha\)-tocopherol (43.2%, 200 uM) as a control, KT23 (**359**) (100 uM) inhibited 16.4% of egg-yolk phosphatidylcholine liposome (EyPC liposome) peroxidation. Ferulsinaic acid (**218**) is a sesquiterpene coumarin from _F. sinica_ with a rare carbon skeleton. It was found to significantly reduce malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in _Caenorhabditis elegans_, thus attenuating lipid peroxidation. In addition, it could significantly decrease the formation of N-\(\epsilon\)-carboxymethyllysine (CML), one of the advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) that is correlated with oxidative stress.