Application Prospects of Fructus Crataegi Extract     In recent years, with the further development of molecular biology and medical sciences and the improvement of detection techniques,people have become increasingly aware of the occurrence of free radicals and their harmful effect on the human body. Various kinds of exogenetic and endogenous free radicals, under certain external circumstances ,occur constantly and affect the organism in every aspect. The occurrence of an excess of free radicals in the body or the drop of the capability to eliminate them will lead to a series of pathological changes such as inflammation ,allergic reactions,the occurrence of cancers,damage to organs and senility. It has been proved that adequate replenishment of exogenetic anti-oxidants or the administration of medicines capable of restoring endogenous anti-oxidants in the organism to a certain level will reverse the above-mentioned damage and pathological changes. Since Fructus Crataegi extract contains rich natural anti-oxdants,and especially now that domestic and foreign research have proven that one of the active ingredients of Crataegus Pinnatifida Bge., quercetin,and its derivatives,being flavonoid compounds with many kinds of bioactivity,are capable of combining or capturing free radicals and preventing lipid peroxidation of the organism,the application of Fructus Crataegi extract has an extremely wide prospect.