ESSENTIAL AND FIXED OIL CHEMICAL PROFILES OF Salvia aegyptiaca L. FLOWERS AND SEEDS

The essential oil content in the flowers of Salvia aegyptiaca growing wild in south of Iran was found to be 0.1% (v/w). The essential oil was analyzed by GC and GC–MS. Ten constituents, representing 98.7 % of the flowers essential oil were identified. The major component of S. aegyptiaca flowers essential oil was identified as octane (60.7%). The fixed oil content and fatty acid composition of the seeds were also analyzed in order to determine their potential for human or animal consumption. The oil content in these edible seeds was found to be 16.2 %. The oil was analyzed by GC and GC/MS and twenty six components identified which constituted 84.6 % of the oil. The main compounds of the seeds oil were characterized as n-dodecane (23.9%), tetradecane (15.6%) and n-decane (10.5%). Keywords: Salvia aegyptiaca, Lamiaceae, Flowers, Essential oil, Seeds, Fixed oil e-mail: asgarpanah@iaups.ac.ir INTRODUCTION The largest genus of the Lamiaceae family, the genus Salvia L. represents an enormous and cosmopolitan assemblage of nearly 1000 species displaying remarkable variation. It has undergone marked species radiations in three regions of the world: Central and South America (500 spp.), Central Asia/Mediterranean (250 spp.) and Eastern Asia (90 spp.) [1]. Iran, particularly, is one of the centers of origin of the genus