In vitro free radical scavenging activity of five Salvia species.

The radical scavenging activity of ethanolic extracts from five Salvia species including S. hypoleuca Benth., S. reuterana Boiss., S. verticillata L., S. virgata Jacq. and S. officinalis L. (as the reference plant with well documented free radical scavenging and antioxidant properties) was evaluated in vitro with the spectrophotometric method based on the reduction of the stable DPPH free radical. All the extracts showed radical scavenging activity, especially S. verticillata [IC50=23.53 (20.56-26.93) microg ml(-1)] and S. virgata [IC50=27.01 (24.08-30.29) microg ml(-1)] were found to be the most active species. Furthermore, the extracts were investigated regarding their total flavonoid content (TFC) by AlCl3 reagent. The extracts S. hypoleuca (TFC=53.16+/-1.95 microg mg(-1)) and S. reuterana (TFC=46.97+/-4.43 microg mg(-1)) had the highest content of flavonoid. However, a favourable correlation was not found between the radical scavenging potency and the total flavonoid content. This study suggests that S. verticillata and S. virgata are the possible sources of natural radical scavengers.