A Study of Chemical Composition of Essential Oil from Salvia officinalis L. During Different Growth Stages

Biological activity and making use of sage essential oil in different industries depend on the chemical composition of the essential oil which is itself affected by several factors. In order to study the quality and quantity of the essential oil during growth stages, samples of the plant were gathered. The essential oil was extracted through steam distillation from the different plant parts separately. Volatile parts were analyzed with GCMS instrument. The study showed that the quality and quantity of the chemicals from different parts of the plant were not the same: Alpha-thujone and Beta-thujone as two important compounds were the lowest in the leaves of sage at flowering stage (1.2%, 3%, respectively). The study also showed that the quantity of Camphor (2.9%), Cineole (2%), Alpha-thujone (6.4%) and Beta-thujone (1.6%) in the essential oil of aerial parts of the plant were lower than the international standards (33%, 10%, 16% & 2%, respectively).