Objective: To investigate the antioxidant activity of magnolol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) model.Methods: Antioxidant activity of magnolol was demonstrated in S. cerevisiae using spot assay, colony forming unit (CFU) assay, detection of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by fluorescent microscopy and spectrofluorometer, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and catalase (CAT) assay.Results: A dose-dependent increase in sensitivity of S. cerevisiae was observed with increase in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration. At 1.5 mmol concentration of H2O2, we observed 50 % of cell survivability in CFU and spot assay results. The sensitivity of S. cerevisiae to H2O2 was protected by magnolol treatment. In spot assay, magnolol pre-treatment showed the similar growth pattern as that of control and in CFU assay 75 % of survivability was observed. Fluorescence microscopic images and fluorescence intensity levels using 2´, 7´-dichlorodihydrofluoresceindiacetate (H2DCFDA) showed less number of fluorescence cells and 1.2 fold decrease in fluorescence intensity in magnolol pre-treated cells. The cellular protection in the cells pre–treated with magnolol followed by H2O2 was correlated with the decreased LPO and increase in CAT activity was recorded.Conclusion: The result of the present study demonstrates that magnolol protects S. cerevisiae cells from H2O2 induced oxidant mediated cell death
