Antioxidant properties of the extracts of Acanthopanax senticosus were investigated. The dried roots, stems or leaves were extracted with hot water or ethanol each. The ethanol extracts exhibited higher potency than aqueous extracts in scavenging free radicals and in inhibiting microsomal lipid peroxidation: the aqueous extracts of stems showed higher anti-oxidant effects than the root extracts. Copper-mediated LDL oxidation was also protected by the ethanol exlracts: antioxidant effects of the extracts tested were stronger than ascorbic acid, but not butylated hydroxytoluene. The activity of angiotensin converting enzyme was effectively suppressed by the aqueous extracts of the stems. However, in vivo antioxidant properties of the ethanol extracts of the stems did not seem to be significant, judged from the lipid peroxide values of serum and liver in normal mice. Thus, the ethanol extracts of the stems were shown to be more potent for protecting biological systems against various oxidant stresses in vitro, but not in vivo.