Supported by a growing increase of scientific research attesting the health properties of salvia species, we have decided to investigate nine Salvia namely Salvia sclarea, Salvia atropatana, Salvia sahendica, Salvia hydrangea, Salvia xanthocheila, Salvia macrosiphon, Salvia glutinosa, Salvia chloroleuca and Salvia ceratophylla species for their antioxidant and antiproliferative activities. In order to correlate the bioactivity with their phytochemical content, the total phenol and total flavonoid contents were also determined. S. ceratophylla exhibited the strongest activity against C32 cells with an IC50 value of 20.8 μg mL(- 1), while S. glutinosa exhibited an IC50 value of 29.5 μg mL(- 1) against ACHN cell line. Interestingly, S. glutinosa displayed also the highest DPPH radical-scavenging activity with an IC50 of 3.2 μg mL(- 1). These species are characterised by the highest total phenol and flavonoid contents. The obtained results suggest that Salvia species are healthy plant foods.
Keywords: Salvia; antioxidant activity; antiproliferative activity; flavonoids content; phenol content.