Essential oil composition of Turkish herbal tea ( Salvia aucheri Bentham var. canescens Boiss. & Heldr.)

The essential oil of the aerial parts of Salvia aucheri var. canescens , collected from two different locations (Gülnar, sample A; and Silifke, sample B) growing endemic in Turkey, were analysed by GC–MS. The oil yields of dried plants (v/dw) obtained by hydrodistillation were 1.4% and 1.7%, respectively. Forty‐two compounds were identied, representing 98.6% and 99.5% of the oils from the two locations. The main constituents of the oils were: 1,8‐cineole (32.3%, 28.6%), camphor (18.9%, 22.8%), borneol (8.2%, 8.9%), α ‐pinene (6.3%, 9.0%) and β ‐pinene (5.3%, 6.2%), respectively. The oils consisted of monoterpenic hydrocarbons (21.3%, 27.4%), oxygenated monoterpenes (66.4%, 64.9%), sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (6.3%, 3.1%) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (4.1%, 4.1%), respectively. 1,8‐Cineole and camphor were the major components of S. aucheri. var. canescens . Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.