Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oil of Western Romanian Salvia officinalis

http://www.revistadechimie.ro 131 The genus Salvia is one of the largest among the Labiatae genera; it includes over 900 species and has an almost cosmopolitan distribution. Salvia officinalis L. or Dalmatian sage is a perennial low shrub which is native of the western part of the Balkan Peninsula [1]. In Romania, the Salvia genus contains 15 species including Salvia officinalis [2]. According to European Pharmacopoeia 5.0, the minimum content of EO in S. officinalis is 15 mL/kg [3]. The chemical composition of the S. officinalis essential oil (EO) has been previously investigated, alphaand betathujone, 1,8-cineole, camphor and humulene being the main major components reported [4-9]. A number of studies, however, indicate significant variations in the concentration of these components and/or the presence of other major compounds, such as: alpha-pinene, viridiflorol, borneol, manool and limonene [10-13]. The amount of EO in the plant as well as its chemical composition are dependent on a number of factors, such as environment, growth region, phenological cycle and cultivation practices [10, 12-14]. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) regulates by ISO 9909:1997 the level of several compounds in the sage EO: alpha-thujone, 18.0-43.0%; beta-thujone, 3.0-8.5%; camphor, 4.5-24.5%; 1,8-cineole, 5.5-13.0%; alpha-humulene, 0-12%; alpha-pinene, 1.0-6.5%; camphene, 1.5-7.0%; limonene, 0.5-3.0%; linalool, <1%; and bornyl acetate, <2.5% [15]. In addition to its flavoring properties, the sage EO presents significant bioactive properties: antimicrobial [8, 16-19] and antifungal activity [18, 20], together with strong antioxidant properties [16, 21] The purpose of this study was to determine: i) the chemical composition and ii) the antimicrobial properties of the EO from S. officinalis grown in Romania, towards the accession of new sources of natural antiseptics with potential applications in the pharmaceutical and food industry.