Harvesting season and plant part dependent variations in the essential oil composition of Salvia officinalis L. grown in northern India

The essential oil composition of Salvia officinalis L. (Lamiaceae) grown in northern India was investigated using gas chromatography (GC/FID) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The essential oil yield was found to vary from 0.22% to 0.43% (whole aerial parts) and 0.15% to 0.60% (individual plant parts) depending on the season of harvesting and plant parts processed, respectively. Altogether, sixty constituents, corresponding to 95.5–99.2% of the oil compositions were identified. Major constituents of the oil were cis-thujone (19.8–42.5%), (E)-caryophyllene (1.2–16.1%), manool (3.6–15.1%), viridiflorol (3.1–12.8%), 1,8-cineole (2.8–13.8%), camphor (1.4–22.1%), borneol (0.9–4.8%), α-humulene (1.5–4.5%), β-pinene (0.7–4.1%), and trans-thujone (1.4–3.7%). Comparative results showed considerable variations in the essential oil composition dependent upon the season of harvesting and plant parts processed. Thujones and manool were highest in the stem oil; camphor was highest in leaf oil, while (E)-caryophyllene and viridiflorol were shown to be highest in the inflorescence oil. The essential oils of the leaf and herb (aerial parts) of S. officinalis matched well with the ISO standard.