Source: holistic-herbalist

Sage herb is used for medicinal, culinary, ornamental purposes. Its medicinal acceptance in the present time is quite late than its culinary use. The different names, medicinal part, dosage, chemical constituents the brief history and its use as culinary herb is presented.

English Name:

Sage Herb (Common Sage).

Latin Name:

 Salvia officinalis Linn., Salvia salvatrix.

The word Salvia has a latin root 'salvere' that means to be saved, to be in good health, salvation. It refers to its medicinal values that had been famous in older times. Salvere is distorted to 'sauja' or 'sauge' in French and 'sawge' in English. The present name is derived from these names. Officinalis refers to an old reference to a herb store or pharmacy.

Sometimes it is mentioned as S. salvatrix i.e. Sage As the Saviour.

Family Name:

Labiatae (Mint family).

Other Popular Names:

The word sage means the learned person or the wise.

• Sawge
• Garden Sage
• Red Sage
• Broad leaved white Sage
• Narrow leaved white Sage

Medicinal Parts Of Sage Herb:

• Leaves
• Whole herb

Dosage Of Sage:

• 3 to 5 gm of leaves in 150 ml of water for gargles and compress.
• 3 to 5 gm of leaves twice a day for its tea or infusion.
• 5 ml of fluid extract (1:1) after diluting it in a cup of water can be taken thrice a day.

Sage Herb As A Food Article:

Chinese preferred its tea to their native herbal tea. S. grandiflora or Balsamic Sage,  a broad leaved variety with many flowered whorls, is also used as tea. The infusion of Veronica officinalis or Speedwell, Wood Betony and Sage is used as a beverage for tea in Holland.

Yellow flowered hardy Sage (S. glutinosa) and Garden Clary or S. sclarea are used to flavor wine. Italian farmers eat Sage with bread and butter as a health restorative.

The Applebearing Sage or S. pomifera has Sage apples. These are jelly like semitransparent excrescences. These are sold in the market with similar name. These are used by Greek to prepare sweetmeat and conserve with delicious taste.

Biochemical Composition Of Sage Herb:

• Yellow or greenish yellow volatile oil with specific gravity of 0.910 to 0.930 and a penetrating odor. The fresh leaves yield 0.5 to 1.0 % of oil while the dry leaves yield 1.0 to 3.0 % oil.

• Tannins

• Resin

• A hydrocarbon, Salvene

• Pinene and Cineol in small quantities.

• Borneol and some esters.

• Thujone (alpha & beta Thujone) is the active principle - a ketone that gives the power to resist putrefaction in animal substances. It is present in 15 to 35% in its oil.

• Salviol, another chemical that is identical to Thujone.

• Dextro-Camphor in trace.

• Vitamin A & C is present.

• Rosmarinic acid

• Flavonoids

• bitter compounds (salvin and picrosalvin)

Sage oil is commercially obtained from S. officinalis. In Spain it is obtained from S. triloba.

The Brief History Of Sage Herb:

Sage has a history of several hundred years at least. Sometimes it had been mentioned as the herb of immortality. There are its references in Germany, England and France in old literature. Its medicinal and culinary properties had been well known. Gerald from England (1597) mentioned that it was grown in gardens at that time.

In the Middle age, this medicinal herb has been famous to the extent that this following proverb was in use - Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto? ('Why should a man die until sage grows in his garden?'). Chinese loved this herb so much that they traded three bags of their tea for one bag of this herb with Dutch and English.

There are many stories and proverbs in old literature that describes it medicinal values as well as many of the beliefs associated with this herb - Rue should be planted with this herb to keep Toads away from this herb; it can remove physical and mental grief; sow all the graves with this herb; wife rules in the house wherein this herb grows in the garden; the withering or growth of this plant corresponds with the failure or success in monetary sense. Quite interesting!  Many of them might look superstitious today but they point directly to its popularity and usefulness indirectly.

The International Herb Association conferred Salvia officinalis as the Herb of the year in 2001. It is famous for its culinary, medicinal, ornamental and craft uses.

It had been listed in United States Pharmacopoeia.

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