Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity and Phenolic Content in Different Salvia officinalis L. Extracts

The use of medicinal plants to improve health is an ancient practice and in recent years it has been observed an increasing interest of scientific researchers for the study of plants with biological properties and active principles responsible for their therapeutic effects. Salvia officinalis L. is considered the queen of herbs and belongs to the Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family. Due to the increasing interest in plants health benefits, the aim of the present study was to characterize various extracts of Romanian sage regarding their content in compounds with antioxidant activity. Three different techniques and five solvents were used for extraction of bioactive compounds from Salvia officinalis L. The total phenolic content and the antioxidant activity of plant extract were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method and respectively by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. Methanolic extract exhibited the highest content in phenolic compound (1974.89 mg GAE/100g dw) as well ass the strongest antioxidant capacity (85.12%).