<i>In vitro</i>Cytotoxic Activity of Three Essential Oils from<i>Salvia</i>Species

Abstract

Abstract Essential oils of Salvia officinalis L., S. sclarea L. and S. lavandulifolia Vahl. (Lamiaceae) prepared by hydrodistillation were characterized by GC/MS. The oils were found to possess the following major components: S. officinalis: 1,8-cineole (11.7%), α-thujone (65.5%) and β-thujone (15.4%); S. sclarea: linalool (10.7%) and linalyl acetate (81.1%) and S. lavandulifolia: 1,8-cineole (25.5%), camphor (39.0%) and linalyl acetate (10.2%). These oils were tested for cytotoxic activities on cultures of different human tumor cell lines. Cytotoxic activity was compared to that of the anticancer agent doxorubicin. The oils of S. officinalis and S. lavandulifolia were 100 to 1000 times less active than doxorubicin on all the cell lines. S. sclarea oil showed a strong in vitro activity against cell suspensions in the same range as doxorubicin and was 100 times less active on attached cell cultures.