Variation of Salvia officinalis L. Essential Oil and Hydrolate Composition and Their Antimicrobial Activity

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the chemical composition of steam distillate essential oil and corresponding hydrolate obtained from S. officinalis grown in Serbia, as well as the influence of weather conditions (temperature and precipitations) on their chemical profiles. Furthermore, their antimicrobial activity was investigated in vitro. The main compounds in essential oil were cis-thujone, followed by camphor, trans-thujone, and 1,8-cineole, while hydrolate was slightly different from the essential oil, with camphor, cis-thujone, and 1,8-cineole as the main compounds. Among the eight respiratory-associated microorganisms, Klebsiella oxytoca was the most sensitive to the tested EOs (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)/minimal bactericidal/fungicidal concentration (MBC/MFC) were 14.20 and 28.4 μL mL−1, respectively). MIC and MBC values of other tested bacteria ranged between 28.40 and 227.25 μL mL−1 while for Candida albicans MIC/MFC ranged from 28.40/56.81 to 56.81–113.63 μL mL−1. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns for the analyzed eight respiratory-associated microorganisms showed an intermediate level of resistance to commonly used antibiotics such as ampicillin, levofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin. As a preliminary approach to the antimicrobial profiling of the tested EO, the obtained results revealed that the tested samples possess remarkable antibacterial activities and could be used to develop pharmaceutical formulations as an alternative to conventional antibiotic therapy.