Salvia officinalis essential oil: Chemical analysis and evaluation of anti-enzymatic and antioxidant bioactivities

Chemical composition of the essential oil (EO) of wild Salvia officinalis leaves collected from “La Marsa”, in the North of Tunisia was assessed. The oil was isolated by hydrodistillation in a Dean-Stark type apparatus and analyzed through a combination of GC-FID and GC–MS. The yield was 1.03% on dry basis. Eighteen constituents were identified according to their chromatographic retention indices and mass spectra, corresponding to 96.94% of present compounds. The main components were camphor (33.61%), 1,8-cineole (22.22%) and α-thujone (21.43%). S. officinalis leaves EO showed interesting antioxidant activity (IC50 = 8.31 ± 0.55 mg/L). Because of this interesting capacity to scavenge free radicals and their known tight relation with inflammatory mechanisms, Alzheimer's and gout's diseases, EO inhibitory potency towards the three enzymes 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and xanthine oxidase (XOD) was thereby investigated for the first time in Tunisia. Results demonstrated that S. officinalis EO perfectly inhibited the tested enzymes AChE (IC50 = 38.71 ± 2.09 mg/L), 5-LOX (IC50 = 36.15 ± 1.27 mg/L) and XOD (IP (%) = 36.89 ± 1.83 at a final concentration of 50 mg/L in the well). Current characterization increases our awareness of S. officinalis EO possible uses as natural additives in food and pharmaceuticals.