Salvia officinalis

This article is about the culinary herb known as "sage". For other uses, see Sage (disambiguation).
Salvia officinalis
Flowers of Salvia officinalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Salvia
Species: S. officinalis
Binomial name
Salvia officinalis
L.
Salvia officinalis flower closeup

Salvia officinalis (sage, also called garden sage, common sage, or culinary sage) is a perennial, evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae and native to the Mediterranean region, though it has naturalized in many places throughout the world. It has a long history of medicinal and culinary use, and in modern times as an ornamental garden plant. The common name "sage" is also used for a number of related and unrelated species.

Names

S. officinalis has numerous common names. Some of the best-known are sage, common sage, garden sage, golden sage, kitchen sage, true sage, culinary sage, Dalmatian sage, and broadleaf sage. Cultivated forms include purple sage and red sage. The specific epithet officinalis refers to plants with a well-established medicinal or culinary value.[1]

Taxonomy

S. officinalis was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It has been grown for centuries in the Old World for its food and healing properties, and was often described in old herbals for the many miraculous properties attributed to it.[2] The specific epithet, officinalis, refers to the plant's medicinal use—the officina was the traditional storeroom of a monastery where herbs and medicines were stored.[1][3] S. officinalis has been classified under many other scientific names over the years, including six different names since 1940 alone.[4] It is the type species for the genus Salvia.

The second most commonly used species of sage is Salvia lavandulaefolia, which shares a similar composition with Salvia officinalis, with the exception that lavandulaefolia contains very little of the potentially toxic GABAA receptor-antagonizing monoterpenoid thujone.[5]

Description

Sage leaves are covered with fine hairs called trichomes

Cultivars are quite variable in size, leaf and flower color, and foliage pattern, with many variegated leaf types. The Old World type grows to approximately 2 ft (0.61 m) tall and wide, with lavender flowers most common, though they can also be white, pink, or purple. The plant flowers in late spring or summer. The leaves are oblong, ranging in size up to 2.5 in (6.4 cm) long by 1 in (2.5 cm) wide. Leaves are grey-green, rugose on the upper side, and nearly white underneath due to the many short soft hairs. Modern cultivars include leaves with purple, rose, cream, and yellow in many variegated combinations.[2]

History

Painting from Koehler's Medicinal Plants (1887)

S. officinalis has been used since ancient times for warding off evil, snakebites, increasing women's fertility, and more. Theophrastus wrote about two different sages, a wild undershrub he called sphakos, and a similar cultivated plant he called elelisphakos. Pliny the Elder said the latter plant was called salvia by the Romans, and used as a diuretic, a local anesthetic for the skin, a styptic, and for other uses. Charlemagne recommended the plant for cultivation in the early Middle Ages, and during the Carolingian Empire, it was cultivated in monastery gardens.[6] Walafrid Strabo described it in his poem Hortulus as having a sweet scent and being useful for many human ailments—he went back to the Greek root for the name and called it lelifagus.[7]

The plant had a high reputation throughout the Middle Ages, with many sayings referring to its healing properties and value.[8] It was sometimes called S. salvatrix (sage the savior), and was one of the ingredients of Four Thieves Vinegar, a blend of herbs which was supposed to ward off the plague. Dioscorides, Pliny, and Galen all recommended sage as a diuretic, hemostatic, emmenagogue, and tonic.[7] John Gerard's Herball (1597) states that sage "is singularly good for the head and brain, it quickeneth the senses and memory, strengtheneth the sinews, restoreth health to those that have the palsy, and taketh away shakey trembling of the members."[9] In past centuries it was also used for hair care, insect bites and wasp stings, nervous conditions, mental conditions, oral preparations for inflammation of the mouth, tongue and throat, and also to reduce fevers.[7]

Uses

Culinary use

The top side of a sage leaf – trichomes are visible
The underside of a sage leaf – more trichomes are visible on this side
A pot of salvia officinalis
Sage seeds are almost spherical in shape

In Britain, sage has for generations been listed as one of the essential herbs, along with parsley, rosemary and thyme (as in the folk song "Scarborough Fair"). It has a savory, slightly peppery flavor. It appears in many European cuisines, notably Italian, Balkan and Middle Eastern cookery. In Italian cuisine, it is an essential condiment for saltimbocca and other dishes, favored with fish. In British and American cooking, it is traditionally served as sage and onion stuffing, an accompaniment to roast turkey or chicken at Christmas or Thanksgiving Day. Other dishes include pork casserole, Sage Derby cheese and Lincolnshire sausages. Despite the common use of traditional and available herbs in French cuisine, sage never found favor there.

Essential oil

Main article: Sage oil

Common sage is grown in parts of Europe for distillation of an essential oil, though other species such as Salvia fruticosa may also be harvested and distilled with it. The essential oil contains cineole, borneol, and thujone. Sage leaf contains tannic acid, oleic acid, ursonic acid, ursolic acid, carnosol, carnosic acid, fumaric acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, niacin, nicotinamide, flavones, flavonoid glycosides, and estrogenic substances.[10]

Health

A number of double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, balanced-crossover studies in healthy humans have demonstrated improved memory, attention/executive function, alertness and mood following single doses of cholinesterase-inhibiting sage extracts or essential oils.[11] A single, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in a small cohort (n = 30) of Alzheimer's disease patients also demonstrated improved cognitive functioning and behavioral function (Clinical Dementia Rating) following a 16-week administration of a Salvia officinalis alcoholic tincture.[12] Extracts of sage can enhance cognitive performance, comparable to the effect of the caffeine found in tea and coffee.[13]

Cultivars

In favorable conditions in the garden, S. officinalis can grow to a substantial size (1 square metre or more), but a number of cultivars are more compact. As such they are valued as small ornamental flowering shrubs, rather than for their herbal properties. Some provide low ground cover, especially in sunny dry environments. Like many herbs they can be killed by a cold wet winter, especially if the soil is not well drained. But they are easily propagated from summer cuttings, and some cultivars are produced from seeds.

Named cultivars include:

'Icterina'[14] and 'Purpurascens'[15] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. p. 224. ISBN 9781845337315.
  2. 1 2 Clebsch, Betsy; Carol D. Barner (2003). The New Book of Salvias. Timber Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-88192-560-9.
  3. ↑ Stearn, William T. (2004). Botanical Latin. Timber Press (OR). p. 456. ISBN 0-88192-627-2.
  4. ↑ Sutton, John (2004). The Gardener's Guide to Growing Salvias. Workman Publishing Company. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-88192-671-2.
  5. ↑ Olsen, RW (25 April 2000). "Absinthe and gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors.". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 97 (9): 4417–8. doi:10.1073/pnas.97.9.4417. PMC 34311Freely accessible. PMID 10781032.
  6. ↑ Watters, L. L. (1901). An Analytical Investigation of Garden Sage (Salvia officinalis, Linne). New York: Columbia University.
  7. 1 2 3 Kintzios, Spiridon E. (2000). Sage: The Genus Salvia. CRC Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-90-5823-005-8.
  8. ↑ An Anglo-Saxon manuscript read "Why should man die when he has sage?" Kintzios, p. 10
  9. ↑ Grieve, Maud (1971). A Modern Herbal: The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses, Volume 2.
  10. ↑ "Sage". OBeWise Nutriceutica. Applied Health. Archived from the original on November 26, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
  11. ↑ Kennedy, D. O.; Wightman, E. L. (11 January 2011). "Herbal Extracts and Phytochemicals: Plant Secondary Metabolites and the Enhancement of Human Brain Function". Advances in Nutrition. 2 (1): 32–50. doi:10.3945/an.110.000117. PMC 3042794Freely accessible. PMID 22211188.
  12. ↑ Akhondzadeh, S; Noroozian, M; Mohammadi, M; Ohadinia, S; Jamshidi, AH; Khani, M (February 2003). "Salvia officinalis extract in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease: a double blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial.". Journal of clinical pharmacy and therapeutics. 28 (1): 53–9. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2710.2003.00463.x. PMID 12605619.
  13. ↑ Mosley, Michael. "Unexpected ways to wake up your brain". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Salvia officinalis 'Icterina'". Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Salvia officinalis 'Purpurascens'". Retrieved 2 June 2013.

Further reading

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