Essential oil content of rosemary, golden sage, and spearmint treated with salicylic acid

Studies on a wide range of plant secondary metabolites as natural products show that these bioactive

compounds can act as potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, or anticancer agents. In general, herbs

can be used to counteract various health problems in humans. Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis), golden sage (Salvia officinalis) and spearmint (Mentha spicata) are known from ancient times as important medicinal, aromatic and seasoning herbs. Salicylic acid is an endogenous plant signal molecule involved in many growth responses and disease resistance. It can also contribute to stress tolerance by stimulating highly-branched metabolic responses. In this study, plants fall into two groups: (1) plants treated with hougland solution + 2 mM salicylic acid, (2) plants with hougland solution. To evaluate total essential oil during all plants were harvested after five day, and then essential oils are extracted using steam distillatory and rotary evaporator respectively. Our data showed significant difference between total essential oil of treated and untreated plants. The result suggests that the salicylic acid may change the essential oil level by controlling metabolic pathways.