A novel insight on an ancient aromatic plant: The rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.)

The nutrient composition of rosemary reveals a great amount of vitamins and minerals. The most well studied bioactive compounds are carnosic acid, carnosol, caffeic acid and its derivative, rosmarinic acid. The levels on bioactive compounds depend on many factors, such as the variety, plant part, edafoclimatic conditions, drying conditions (if applied) and extraction and analysis methods. Numerous biological activities of rosemary are recognized including antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, among others. Therefore it has a vast range of industrial applications such as food and food packaging, pharmaceutical, perfumery and cosmetics industries.