Phytochemical composition and antioxidant properties of extracts isolated from various species of the genus Salvia

Author, Institution: Vaida Šulniūtė, Kaunas University of Technology

Science Area, Field of Science: Physical Sciences, Chemistry – 03P

Scientific Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Petras Rimantas VENSKUTONIS (Kaunas University of Technology, Physical Sciences, Chemistry, 03P).

Dissertation Defence Board of Chemistry Science Field:
Prof. Dr. Daiva Leskauskaitė (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Chemical Engineering 05T) – chairperson,
Prof. Dr. Vytas Martynaitis (Kaunas University of Technology, Physical Sciences, Chemistry, 03P),
Prof. Dr. Habil. Audrius Sigitas Maruška (Vytautas Magnus University, Physical Sciences, Chemistry, 03P),
Prof. Dr. Habil. Vytautas Mickevičius (Kaunas University of Technology, Physical Sciences, Chemistry, 03P),
Dr. Thierry Talou (National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse, Physical Sciences, Chemistry, 03P).

The doctoral dissertation is available at the library of Kaunas University of Technology (K. Donelaičio g. 20,Kaunas)

Annotation:
Botanicals are among the most important sources of natural antioxidants and other valuable phytochemicals which may find applications as novel food additives or bioactive ingredients for functional foods and nutraceuticals. Moreover, ‘naturalness’ has become one of the most important factors for the consumer’s preferences in choosing various products for human consumption. Therefore, the interest in a more systematic and comprehensive characterisation of less studied plant species has been systematically increasing. Lamiaceae family herbs are among the most popular aromatic, medicinal and spicy plants, many of which have been extensively studied and reported to accumulate high amounts of essential oils, strong phenolic antioxidants and other valuable constituents. S. officinalis and S. sclarea are the most thoroughly studied Salvia species, whereas the information about many other Salvia species is rather scarce. To fill this gap, 10 different Salvia spp. plants, namely S. amplexicaulis, S. austriaca, S. forsskaolii, S. glutinosa, S. nemorosa, S. officinalis, S. pratensis, S. sclarea, S. stepposa and S. verticillata have been selected. In order to obtain valuable compounds from 10 different Salvia spp. plants, various extraction techniques and different polarity solvents were used. Scholarly practice has proven that only by consecutively employing different techniques can the best results be actually achieved. In this study, the antioxidant properties as well as the composition of phenolic and volatile compounds were also evaluated for the valorisation of Salvia spp. as new raw materials for the isolation of functional ingredients for human nutrition.