Salvia officinalis herb health benefit

Salvia officinalis (Sage) has phenolic diterpenes including carnosic acid and carnosol. See more information about carnosol.

Salvia officinalis and memory
An extract of Salvia (sage) with anticholinesterase properties improves memory and attention in healthy older volunteers.
Psychopharmacology. 2008, Kennedy DO. Brain Sciences Institute, Swinburne University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Species of Salvia (sage) have a long-standing reputation in European medical herbalism, including for memory enhancement. In recent controlled trials, administration of Salvia officinalis extracts with established cholinergic properties improved cognitive function in young adults. Twenty volunteers (>65 years of age, mean = 72.95) received four active doses of extract and a placebo with a 7-day wash-out period between visits. The overall pattern of results is consistent with a dose-related benefit to processes involved in efficient stimulus processing and/or memory consolidation rather than retrieval or working memory efficiency. These findings extend those of the memory-enhancing effects of Salvia officinalis extracts in younger populations and warrant further investigation in larger series, in other populations and with different dosing regimes.

An arabinogalactan with a high content of 3-O-methyl-D-galactose residues has been isolated from the aerial parts of sage (Salvia officinalis).

Aqueous extracts from peppermint, sage and lemon balm leaves display potent anti-HIV-1 activity by increasing the virion density.
Retrovirology. 2008, Goffinet C, Venzke S, Nolkemper S, Baumann I, Plinkert P, Reichling J, Keppler OT. Department of Virology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Aqueous extracts from leaves of well known species of the Lamiaceae family were examined for their potency to inhibit infection by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Extracts from lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.), peppermint (Mentha x piperita L.), and sage (Salvia officinalis L.) exhibited a high and concentration-dependent activity against the infection of HIV-1 in T-cell lines, primary macrophages, and in ex vivo tonsil histocultures with 50% inhibitory concentrations as low as 0.004%.

Influence of gibberellin and daminozide on the expression of terpene synthases and on monoterpenes in common sage (Salvia officinalis).
J Plant Physiol. 2010, Grausgruber-Gröger S, Grassi P. Institute for Applied Botany and Pharmacognosy, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria.
Common sage (Salvia officinalis) is one of the most important medicinal and aromatic plants, with antioxidant, antimicrobial, spasmolytic, astringent, antihidrotic and specific sensorial properties. The essential oil of the plant, composed mainly of the monoterpenes 1,8-cineole, alpha-thujone, beta-thujone and camphor, is responsible for some of these effects. Gibberellins regulate diverse physiological processes in plants, such as seed germination, shoot elongation and cell division. In this study, we analyzed the effect of exogenously applied plant growth regulators, namely gibberellic acid (GA(3)) and daminozide, on leaf morphology and essential oil formation of two leaf stages during the period of leaf expansion. Essential oil content increased with increasing levels of gibberellins and decreased when gibberellin biosynthesis was blocked with daminozide. With increasing levels of gibberellins, 1,8-cineole and camphor contents increased. Daminozide blocked the accumulation of alpha- and beta-thujone. GA(3) at the highest level applied also led to a significant decrease of alpha- and beta-thujone. Monoterpene synthases are a class of enzymes responsible for the first step in monoterpene biosynthesis, competing for the same substrate geranylpyrophosphate. The levels of gene expression of the three most important monoterpene synthases in sage were investigated, 1,8-cineole synthase leading directly to 1,8-cineole, (+)-sabinene synthase responsible for the first step in the formation of alpha- and beta-thujone, and (+)-bornyl diphosphate synthase, the first step in camphor biosynthesis. The foliar application of GA(3) increased, while daminozide significantly decreased gene expression of the monoterpene synthases. The amounts of two of the end products, 1,8-cineole and camphor, were directly correlated with the levels of gene expression of the respective monoterpene synthases, indicating transcriptional control, while the formation of alpha- and beta-thujone was not transcriptionally regulated.

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