Kinetin applications alleviate salt stress and improve the antioxidant composition of leaf extracts in Salvia officinalis

► The foliar applications of kinetin counterbalance or alleviate the salt stress symptoms in sage plants. ► The kinetin application increased the contents of the antioxidants compounds in sage leaves. ► The kinetin effects on sage were partly due to an improvement of ion homeostasis. ► Kinetin applications increased the transcript levels of the isoprenoid and tocopherol biosynthetic genes in sage plants.