Comparative Analysis of Rosmarinic Acid and Salvianolic Acids A and B Contents in Four Wild Growing Salvia Species from Iran

Salvia L. is a large genus of Lamiaceae with 58 species in Iran. Essential oils, terpenoids, derivatives of phenolic acids and flavonoids are the main secondary metabolites constituents of Salvia species. Pharmaceutical properties of the Salvia plants are mainly due to antioxidant activities of these metabolites. In this project, for the first time some phenolic compounds (rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acids A and B) of the leaves and roots from four Iranian wild species of salvia were isolated and measured by HPLC method. Based on our results, leaves and roots of S. verticillata were the richest sources of rosmarinic acid (41.53±0.88 and 5.99±0.19 mg/g DW, respectively). Salvianolic acid B varied from 26.89±4.95 mg/g DW in the leaves of S. officinalis to 75.71±2.74 mg/g DW in the leaves of S.nemorosa. Also, the highest content (10.68±3.12 mg/g DW) of this phenolic compound was determined in the roots of S. nemorosa. The leaves of S. officinalis and the roots of S. nemorosa with values of 4.55±0.77 and 6.68±1.85 mg/g DW had the highest contents of salvianolic acid A. The results showed that the leaves were rich in phenolic acids and among them, salvianolic acid B was the most abundant constituent and rosmarinic acid and salvianolic acid A were in the next place. In conclusion, our results suggested that some Iranian wild species such as S. verticillata and S. nemorosa with high capacity of production and storage of phenolic acids can be introduced as potent natural sources for medicinal purposes.