Objective To establish an ethanol-induced oxidative stress mice model and evaluate the antioxidant capacity of curcumin; and to explore an evaluation method for bioactive antioxidants. Methods Sixty Kunming mice on the age of 8 weeks were accommodated for 1 week and then divided into 5 groups. The test substance curcumin was given at the dosage of 10mg and 30mg per 10 grams of body weight by gavages for 5 weeks. The activity of GPx and SOD in plasma and GPx, SOD, MDA and PCO (protein carboxyl content) in liver were tested by the end of the experiment. Results The activity of GPx both in plasma and in liver was lower than the control group (P <0.05) and the protein carboxyl content (PCO) in liver was higher than the control group (P <0.05). Conclusion Oxidative stress model could be established in mice induced by lower concentration of ethanol for a long time; and the antioxidant capacity of curcumin was identified in the model. PCO could be used as an effective biomarker for the evaluation of oxidative stress.