The antioxidant substance in black onion was identified. The assays that used 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazo line-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS+) radicals showed that the ethyl acetate fraction of black onion methanol extract had a higher level of radical-scavenging activity than the other fractions. Two antioxidative compounds were purified and isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction via column chromatographies of silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 using the guided DPPH radical-scavenging assay. The isolated compounds were identified as 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (1) and quercetin (2) based on mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance. The isolated compounds showed a high level of DPPH and ABTS+ radical-scavenging activity. Compound 2 had a higher level of radical-scavenging activity than 1.