ABSTRACT
Salvia officinalis (sage) is a perennial shrub native to southern Europe and Asia Minor (Embong et al., 1977; Simon et al., 1984). The plant is both cultivated and collected from the wild in Turkey, Italy, Greece, former Yugoslavia, Crete, Spain and France (Heath, 1974). There are about 700 species of Salvia, but only a few types are commercially important (Lawrence, 1981). S. officinalis L. (Dalmatian) serves as the standard sage to which others are compared as it is considered to possess the finest and most characteristic sage aroma (Small, 1997). The name salvia, coming from the Latin salvare “to heal or save”, indicates the virtues attributed to this herb of restoring health and saving from sickness. It was extolled in a proverb: “He that would live for aye must eat sage in May”. An infusion of Salvia officinalis pur purescens (red sage) can be used as an antiseptic gargle for sore throats. Salvia scalrea’s common name “clear eye” may come from the word clary, or more likely from its use to remove obstructions from the eyes. The mucilage from the soaked seeds helps to do this, and to soothe the inflamed eyes (Hooper, 1984). Over the years, extensive research has been carried out worldwide in order to investigate the composition of sage volatile oil.
