COMPARISON OF AROMA COMPOUNDS IN DISTILLED AND EXTRACTED PRODUCTS OF SAGE (SALVIA OFFICINALIS L.)

Salvia officinalis, a member of Lamiaceae family, is a valuable medicinal and aromatic plant. From its Latin name, ‘‘Salvia’’ meaning to cure and ‘‘Officinalis’’meaning medicinal, it is clear that sage has a historical reputation for promotion of health and treatment of ailments. Modern day research has shown that sage essential oil can improve the memory and has shown promise in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. It has been used since ancient times as a local anesthetic, for nasal discharge associated with upper respiratory infections and for the skin. Salvia officinalis is growing in many areas of Europe and also used for distillation, in order to produce essential oils with therapeutic properties. Dioscorides, Pliny and Galen all recommended Salvia officinalis as a haemostatic, tonic and for hyperlipidemia. Although extraction product likes concrete, absolute and hydrosol from the oil of sage, have an economical interest in food industries and there are very limited studies on these products. Sage oil and sage water (hydrosol) were released from the herb of sage plants by using steam distillation. Sage concrete was extracted also from the herb by using pentane and diethyl ether (50:50) as a solvents and sage absolute was produced from the concrete after ethyl alcohol extraction. Essential oil from these products were analyzed by GC-MS. 1.8-cineole; Camphene and Camphor, were the major component of sage essential oil, hydrosol oil, sage concrete and sage absolute. Small concentrations in thujones, toxic compounds which can cause absinthism, were found in the studied Salvia officinalis L. samples.