objective: fruits of bunium persicum (boiss.) b. fedtsh. (apiaceae) are widely used in iranian folkloric medicine for controlling colic pain and dysmenorrhea. this study was aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of the plant fruits and analyzing its essential oil. materials and methods: hydroalcoholic extract, polyphenolic extract and essential oil were prepared using standard methods. the acetic acid and formalin tests were used in male mice (25-35 g) to assess analgesic activity. for evaluation of anti-inflammatory effect, carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and croton oil-induced ear edema were used. results: hydrodistillation of the fruits of b. persicum afforded a pale yellowish oil in a yield of 2%. gc/ms analysis identified 10 compounds, and gamma-terpinene (46.1%), cuminal (23.9%) and p-cymene (15.9%) were the main components. hydroalcoholic and polyphenolic extracts (400 and 800 mg/kg, i.p.) and essential oil (100-400 ul/kg, p.o.) significantly (p < 0.01) reduced acetic acid-induced writhings. they also significantly reduced the pain response of both early and late phases of the formalin test. in the carrageenan test and croton oil-induced ear edema both extracts and essential oil showed considerable anti-inflammatory response. discussion and conclusions: these results clearly show the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of the plant fruits, and since extracts and essential oil relieved the pain of the first phase of the formalin test, it seems that at least a part of analgesic activity is mediated centrally. meanwhile, the effects observed in this study provide evidence for folkloric uses of the plant fruits in painful and inflammatory conditions.