Twelve plants used traditionally in ethno-medicine from the South American Andes were studied. Infusions were compared in terms of their free radical scavenger properties, using four different methods (AAPH-induced haemolysis, TEAC-DPPH, FRAP and TEAC-crocin). All herbal teas showed a strong antioxidant capacity, the results obtained with FRAP and TEAC-DPPH being very similar. When compared at a dilution of 0.03%, Parastrephia lucida, Parastrephia lepidophylla, Senecio nutans, Azorella compacta and Baccharis tola, showed a protective effect against oxidative damage on human erythrocytes greater than that of Trolox (p < 0.001). Upon correlating the polyphenolic contents with the antioxidant capacity a positive association for all plants (TEAC-DPPH vs GAE; r2 = 0.7437) was found. Interestingly, there was a better correlation between polyphenolic contents and the protective effect against APPH-induced haemolytic activity. © 2009 The Authors.