Abstract
The essential oils of eight Salvia species collected from different localities in Iran were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The analytical results were compared with thosepreviously published for related Iranian sage species in order to identify chemical markers for thesespecies.Salvia eremophila,S. hypoleuca, andS. reuterianaare endemic, whileS. atropatana,S.chloroleuca,S. santolinifolia,S. aegyptiaca, andS. macrosiphonalso grow wild in neighboring countries.We categorized the IranianSalviaspecies into four main chemotypes according to their essential-oilconstituents: those which are dominated by1) monoterpenes,2) mono- and sesquiterpenes, or3)sesquiterpenes as the major constituents, and4) those containing low-molecular-weight acids, aldehydes,and esters, and green-leaf volatiles (GLVs). Likely due to the chemical diversity of differentSalviachemotypes, this categorization was supported by principal component analysis (PCA) for the groupsampled here, but not for the values reported in the literature. We identified the following chemicalmarkers:a-pinene,b-pinene, 1,8-cineol, linalool, and borneol in monoterpene-rich species,orb-caryophyllene, germacrene D, bicyclogermacrene, spathulenol, and caryophyllene oxide in sesquiter-pene-rich species. Among these,a-pinene,b-caryophyllene, and germacrene D are the most common andabundant in theSalviaspecies investigated. In accordance with their close biological taxonomy, thechemical similarity of the essential oils ofS. santolinifoliaandS. eremophilais so high that we mayconsider them chemically identical.
