Polyphenolic composition and antioxidant capacity of indigenous wild dalmatian sage (Salvia of ficinalis L.)

Abstract

The objective of our research was to study the effects of growing area on polyphenolic composition and antioxidant capacity on sage leaves extracts (Salvia of ficinalis L.). The evaluation considered naturally growing sage, indigenous to the Mediterranean part of Croatia, specifically from Pag, Pirovac, Brač and Lošinj areas. The results indicate that sage is rich with polyphenols, which show evident antioxidant capacity. Variations of total phenolic contents and their composition, as well as antioxidant capacity between sage extracts grown at the various growing area, were significant (p ≤ 0.05). Rosmarinic acid (2460-3844 mg/100g) and lutolin-3-glucuronide (634-840 mg/100g) were found to be the main polyphenols in sage leaves studied. A significant correlation between total phenols, particularly the most representative phenolic compound rosmarinic acid and luteolin-3-glucuronide, was verified. Principal component analyses (PCA) indicates that the composition of polyphenols in sage has no significant deviation. Nevertheless, the content of polyphenols differed depending on the location direction of the growing area and environmental factors.