Antimicrobial activity of six constituents of essential oil from Salvia.

The antimicrobial activity of three Salvia species, i.e. S. santolinifolia, S. hydrangea and S. mirzayanii, essential oils were investigated. The essential oils were obtained from the aerial parts of plants and analyzed by GC-MS. The main constituents of aforementioned species were alpha-pinene (72.4%), beta-pinene (6.6%) and limonene (5.3%); beta-caryophyllene (25.1%), 1,8-cineol (15.2%) and caryophyllene oxide (11.5%); alpha-terpinenyl acetate (22.6%), 1,8-cineol (21.2%) and linalool (8.9%), respectively. Bioassays exhibited that the property of the oil of S. myrzayanii was superior to others. The antimicrobial activity of essential oil from Salvia species may well be due to the presence of synergy between six tested compounds (linalool, 1,8-cineol, alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, beta-caryophyllene and limonene) and other constituents of the oils with various degrees of antimicrobial activity. Among these, linalool and 1,8-cineol had the highest antimicrobial activity.