Isolation of the essential oil from Salvia triloba L. crop residues: analysis of the chemical profile and evaluation of its antimicrobial activity

Sage is highlighted for its biological activity since it is composed of a plethora of bioactive compounds which can be used in various applications. The present study herein concerned the isolation of the essential oil derived from Salvia triloba L. crop residues by applying microwave-assisted extraction. The isolated essential oil was examined for its chemical compounds by performing GC-MS analysis and for its antimicrobial activity. The obtained results revealed that the major components of the derived essential oil were thujone which formed the predominant compound accounting for 25.83% followed by camphor, cis-thujone and eucalyptol that were found to be at high levels in essential oil’s composition reaching 17.86%, 9.90% and 8.97%, respectively. Additionally, latter essential oil revealed significant antimicrobial activity against E. coli in a ratio of 10 mg/mL, whereas the inhibitory activity for both L. monocytogenes and S. enterica was observed in an amount of 12 mg/mL. Therefore, the presented results lead to a new pathway concerning the exploitation of latter essential oil as a natural antimicrobial agent, which could be adopted by the food industry during multiple steps of the production process, including preservation, packaging, and processing of perishable products such as meat, dairy, and fresh products, as a natural alternative to synthetic preservatives.