Superoxide radicals (O2-.) were generated from a hypoxanthin-xanthin oxidase (HPX-XOD) reaction system and detected by the electron spin resonance (ESR) spin-trapping technique. 2. The inhibitory effect on O2-. generation occurred in the order: superoxide dismutase (SOD) > L-ascorbic acid > eugenol > guaiacol > phenol. 3. And the second-order rate constants between O2-. and samples were: SOD 1.7 x 10(9)/M/S, L-ascorbic acid 3.4 x 10(5)/M/S, eugenol 8.3 x 10(3)/M/S, guaiacol 2.5 x 10(3)/M/S and phenol 5.8 x 10(2)/M/S. 4. It was clarified that the phenolic compounds have O2-. scavenging activity.