Triterpenic Acid Content and Cytotoxicity of Some Salvia Species From Iran

For prosperous domestication, breeding, and cultivation of a herbal species, it is important to screen its medicinally valuable compounds as well as its referred biological activity. Salvia L. species (Lamiaceae), distributed throughout the world, contain a wide range of secondary metabolites including terpenoids and phenolic derivatives. Betulinic acid (BA), oleanolic acid (OA), and ursolic acid (UA) are highly valuable triterpenic acids (TAs) because of their wide range of biological activities. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the BA, OA, and UA contents among 22 Salvia species native to Iran. TA content in the studied Salvia species was compared with that in Salvia officinalis as a commercial species. High-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector results showed that the maximum content of BA (3.12 +/- 0.03 mg/g dry weight [DW]) and OA (1.96 +/- 0.05 mg/g DW) was determined in Salvia multicaulis. The highest content of UA (4.34 +/- 0.1 mg/g DW) was quantified in S. officinalis L. followed by S. multicaulis (3.71 +/- 0.08 mg/g DW). Salvia multicaulis exhibited significantly higher agro-morphological values than S. officinalis in traits related to plant width, leaf length, internode length, and inflorescence length. The cytotoxicities of both species were determined against human cancer cell lines using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The methanolic extract of S. multicaulis and S. officinalis showed cytotoxic effects against SH-SY5Y and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. Both species were equally cytotoxic against the HL-60 cell line. This study provides scope for the selection of high-yielding species and genetic improvement through breeding and biotechnological programs in the future.