Sage Essential Oil

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Sage Essential Oil – General Description

Sage essential oil is extracted through steam distillation from sage leaves, which are generally used as ingredients in the food industry. This essential oil appears pale yellow green with a watery viscosity and is very aromatic with a camphor note. ^[1] It blends well with bergamot, eucalyptus, sweet orange, peppermint, and rosemary essential oils, among others.

Sage (Salvia officinalis) ranks as among the oldest medicinal plants and was even regarded by the ancient Romans as a sacred herb that could alleviate numerous ailments and save one from death’s door. Its etymology reflects early people’s recognition of the plant’s healing properties, “salvia” being derived from the Latin verb salvare (to save or to cure) and “officinalis” (medicinal). ^[2]

Sage Essential Oil – Uses and Reported Benefits

Sage essential oil has been demonstrated by several studies to possess different biological activities, and has been reported as antiseptic, antiscabies, antisyphilitic, anti-inflammatory, ^[3] carminative, antispasmodic, astringent, and antihidrotic properties. ^[4] Sage leaves and their essential oils are regarded as helpful primarily against skin diseases ^[3] and are externally used to relieve inflammations and infections of the mucous membranes of throat and mouth (such as stomatitis, gingivitis, and pharyngitis). ^[4] Sage essential oil produces a very warming effect on the muscles and works outstandingly as an additive to massage oil to ease aching muscles. It can deal with menstrual cycle problems and, quite a few years back, was widely used to mitigate any problems with the reproductive system. ^[2] Internally, sage has been considered to help alleviate dyspeptic symptoms and excessive perspiration – though we do not recommend ingestion of essential oils for safety reasons. ^[4] Drinking or gargling sage infusion is also suggested to soothe a sore throat, tonsillitis, and inflamed, red gums. ^[5] Sage essential oil is considered by some to strengthen the senses and memory as well.

Sage Essential Oil – Contraindications and Safety

Sage essential oil contains thujone, a compound considered toxic if ingested in sufficient doses, so sage essential oil should only be used in low concentrations. Pregnant women and patients with epilepsy or high blood pressure should avoid using or applying this essential oil, and, if taking any medication, consulting a medical practitioner is highly recommended prior to use.

Sage Essential Oil – Scientific Studies And Research

Sage Essential Oil as anticancer agent: Because of the challenges by current multimodal therapies against cancer, particularly their side effects and toxicities resulting in poor prognosis for patients, a great number of studies are in progress to identify and develop therapeutic options from natural products, and sage essential oil is among those demonstrating anticancer potential to date. Sertel, Eichhorn, Plinkert, and Efferth (2011) investigated the cytotoxicity of sage essential oil and reported for the first time the inhibitory ability of sage essential oil to deter the cell growth of human head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). In their study, cytotoxicity of sage essential oil on the cell line derived from oral cavity human squamous cell carcinoma, namely, UMSCC1, was assessed through XTT assay. Sage essential oil effectively decreased the viability of UMSCC1 to a minimum at a concentration greater than 135 μg/ml (IC50), with aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling, cell cycle (G1/S checkpoint) regulation, and p53 signaling being the three reported most significantly regulated pathways by sage essential oil. ^[6] Similarly, Russo et al. (2013) highlighted the potential anticancer activity of sage essential oils, specifically their growth-inhibitory and proapoptotic effects, evaluated in three human melanoma cell lines, namely, A375, M14, and A2058. The essential oils were extracted via hydrodistillation from sage grown in eighteen experimental sites in south-central Italy (Molise) in different environments. ^[7]

Sage Essential Oil as antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory: Sage represents a noteworthy element in traditional medicine across various countries where they are grown and have been naturalized; the essential oil extracted from S. officinalis is widely used as an antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agent for instance. Abu-Darwish et al. (2013) investigated the antifungal and the anti-inflammatory activities of sage essential oil acquired from the aerial parts of S. officinalis, which were collected from different Jordan regions, at concentrations considered safe to mammalian cells. In their study, antifungal activity was evaluated against yeasts, dermatophytes, and Aspergillus strains; furthermore, nitric oxide production was measured to assess sage essential oil’s anti-inflammatory action. Dermatophyte strains, principally Trichophyton rubrum and Epidermophyton floccosum, exhibited considerable susceptibility to sage essential oil with an MIC of 0.64 μL/mL. Among the tested yeasts, Cryptococcus neoformans was the strain that manifested greater susceptibility with an MIC of 0.64 μL/mL. Additionally, sage essential oil efficiently inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO), a proinflammatory mediator produced by macrophages, evidencing this essential oil’s strong anti-inflammatory potential. As the researchers had noted, since NO is a well-established inflammatory marker, the inhibition of its production by sage essential oil might be a valuable approach to treat inflammatory-related diseases. Moreover, the findings of this study showed that bioactive concentrations of sage essential oil do not affect the viability of mammalian macrophages and keratinocytes, making it ideal for skin care formulations for cosmetic and pharmaceutical purposes.[3] According to the study of Ehrnhöfer-Ressler et al. (2013), the compounds 1,8-cineole, borneol, camphor, and α-/β-thujone largely contribute to the anti-inflammatory property of sage infusion. ^[5]

Sage Essential Oil as antifungal: In 2013, a team of researchers from Mahidol University, Thailand, had studied and tested the antifungal activity of sage essential oil against Candida albicans by means of disc diffusion method. This study reported that sage essential oil displays anticandidal activity against all strains of C. albicans, with inhibition zone ranging from 40.5 mm to 19.5 mm. Also, the immersion of heat-polymerized polymethyl methacrylate test samples in sage essential oil at concentrations of 2.780 g/L, 1.390 g/L, and 0.695 g/L for 30 min significantly dose-dependently reduced the adhesion of all C. albicans test strains to resin surface. ^[8] Pinto et al. (2007) had also evaluated the in vitro susceptibility of some species of yeasts and filamentous fungi, namely, Candida (four clinical isolates and four ATCC type strains), dermatophytes (five clinical strains), and other filamentous fungi (Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Fusarium), to sage essential oil and explained sage essential oil’s fungicidal actions as due to its 1,8-cineole and camphor content. In this study, sage essential oil displayed a broad antifungal spectrum, with higher inhibitory effects against dermatophyte strains. ^[9]

Sage Essential Oil – Molecular Components and Chemistry

In 2007, Raal, Orav and Arak analysed the components of sage essential oils from plants growing in Estonia and in other European countries.
40 molecular components were identified in the samples, with the principal components being 1,8-cineole, camphor, α-thujone, β-thujone, borneol, and viridiflorol. ^[4]

In the study of Sertel, Eichhorn, Plinkert, and Efferth (2011), who had analyzed sage essential oil through gas chromatography (GC), the monoterpenes thujone, β-pinene, and 1,8-cineole were revealed to be the main components of sage essential oil. ^[6]

Russo et al. (2013) examined the chemical composition of sage essential oils in their study through GC and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and found α-thujone, camphor, borneol, γ-muurolene, and sclareol in all the samples. ^[7]