Abstract
Water-distilled essential oils from dried aerial parts of Salvia cryptantha and Salvia heldreichiana (Lamiaceae), endemic in Turkey, were analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Camphor (19.1%), 1,8-cineole (16.4%), borneol (11.9%), viridiflorol (11.5%) and bornyl acetate (2.4%) were found to be the major constituents in the oil of S. cryptantha. The major constituents in the oil of S. heldreichiana were linalool (9.4%), alpha-pinene (5.6%), 1,8-cineole (5.6%), borneol (5.6%), cryptone (5.3%), linalyl acetate (4.9%), alpha-terpineol (4.4%), camphor (3.9%), terpinen-4-ol (3.3%), trans-linalool oxide (Furanoid) (2.9%), trans-verbenol (2.2%), geranyl acetate (2.2%) and cis-linalool oxide (Furanoid) (2.1%). Essential oil of S. heldreichiana exhibited antimicrobial activity using the disc diffusion method against Escherichia coli, Sarcinia lutea and Salmonella typhimurium. The oil of S. cryptantha inhibited the growth of S. lutea.