Biotech Studies 2016, Vol 25, Num, 2     (Pages: 340-345)

Sage Species Growing Natively Around Erzurum and Their Medicinal Properties

Hakan ÖZER

1 Atatürk Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi, Tarla Bitkileri Bölümü, Erzurum DOI : 10.21566/tarbitderg.282865 - Turkey is considered one of the most significant countries in the world in terms of richness of plant genetic resources because of various climatic and topographic conditions. Flora of Turkey contains about 10.000 plant species. Medicinal and aromatic plants in this flora have received much attention since about 400 plants are utilized for medicinal purposes. Among the plants, salvias have significant medicinal properties. Salvia L. being one of the largest genera in the Labiatae family, is represented by 900 species in the world. In Turkey, the genus Salvia is represented by approximately 97 species, with being 47 endemics. Eastern Anatolia region, where continental climate and mountainous topography prevail, comprises about 4296 plant species. It is reported that 1392 of theses grow wildly in Erzurum province. These data shows that this region is rich in plant diversity. Erzurum province is also rich in terms of Salvia (sage) species. This review summarizes current knowledge concerning 16 sage species growing natively around Erzurum and their medicinal proporties. Keywords : Sage, Salvia, Erzurum, chemical composition, biological activity