Pretreatment of radish cotyledons with polyamines (PAs; especially 1 mM spermidine) significantly improved their tolerance to subsequent 50 ${mu}M$ paraquat (PQ)-induced oxidative damage. Symptoms in the cotyledons, e.g., large accumulations of $H_2O_2$, and losses of fresh weight, chlorophyll, and proteins, were remarkably alleviated. Likewise, analysis of several enzymes belonging to the superoxide dismutase (SOD)/ascorbate-glutathione cycle showed that pretreatment with PAs prevented typical PQ-induced declines in the total activities of SOD, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR). Dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) activity, which normally decreases sharply under prolonged PQ exposure, was also highly maintained by PA treatment. In a native gel assay, two SOD isozymes (FeSOD and Cu/ZnSOD1), two APX isozymes(APX1 and APX2), and two GSSG-specific isozymes (GR1 and GR2) proved to be more responsible for PQ tolerance, as manifested by the strong increases in their activities by spermidine (Spd) pretreatment. In addition, experiments with protein synthesis inhibitors (actinomycin D and cycloheximide) indicated that Spd could stimulate de novo synthesis of SOD and APX at the translational level. We can conclude that PAs may function as antioxidant protectors by invoking an efficient SOD/ascorbate-glutathione cycle in radish cotyledons exposed to PQ.