Plants of the genus Salvia, also known as sage, are distributed worldwide
and are commonly used for distinct purposes in culinary, cosmetic and
fragrance industry, as well as in traditional medicine. Scientific data
supporting the health-beneficial properties of sage have been obtained in
chemical and biological (in vitro and in vivo) models, mostly using phenolicenriched
extracts and essential oils and/or their purified constituents.
Phenolic compounds in sage mainly comprise caffeic acid derivatives depsides
together with glycosidic derivatives of the flavones luteolin and apigenin. In
turn, essential oils are enriched in monoterpenes and their oxygenated
derivatives (e.g a-/B-pinene, 1,8-cineole, a-/B-thujone and linalool). This
chapter reviews the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor,
neuroprotective and cardioprotective potential benefits of Salvia plants, as
well as the correlation to its bioactive components.
