Essential oils of the aerial parts of three Salvia species from Jordan: Salvia lanigera, S. spinosa and S. syriaca

The compositions of the essential oils of three Jordanian Salvia species, S. lanigera and S. spinosa from a desert climate, and S. syriaca from a Mediterranean habitat, were studied. All three oils are rich in monoterpene derivatives (68–73%).S. lanigera and S. spinosa showed a very high content of thymol, 54.9% and 68.9%, respectively. The main constituents of S. syriaca were thymol, α-pinene and isobornyl acetate (15.5%, 12.6% and 12.0%, respectively).