Manufacture of garden sage essential oil

Karina-Agro Ltd. manufactures essential oil from garden sage (Salvia officinalis) in its own essential oils distillation plant. The entire process of crop cultivation and raw material processing is fully automated from the harvesting of the plants to the extraction of the essential oil using high-performance machines.

The garden sage contains in its dry leaves up to 2.5% of essential oil, which is used in perfumery and medicine.

The garden sage is native to the Mediterranean region  where it it spread also as a wild plant of the Lamiaceae family. It has a well-developed, fibrous root system.

The stems are erect, square sectioned, branched and reach a height of 50-70 cm. The branches are herbaceous and very hairy.

The leaves are arranged opposite each other and have an elongated oval shape. The vein is reticulate and convex below. The leaves are abundantly coated with hairs on both sides which gives them a whitish-green color and velvety surface.

The leaf margin is finely serrated. The leaves do not fall off in winter.

The flowers are at the tips of the side shoots in loose panicle-like inflorescences and have purple to purple-red coloring. The calyx is tubular and two-lipped, with a stem. The crown is 2.5 cm long, two-lipped and curved downwards. The stamens are 4, of which 2 are normal and 2 are rounded. The pistil is fourfold. The fruit is a nut.

The garden sage flowers from June to September.

The garden sage is a thermophilic plant of Mediterranean origin. Nevertheless, it is sufficiently resistant to cold winters and does not freeze at low temperatures.

As a drought-resistant plant, it does not tolerate heavy, stagnant soils, where it usually grows worse and freezes. Suitable for the garden sage are the fertile water-permeable and weed-free soils, which do not form a ground crust. The plant responds positively to fertilization with liquid manure and mineral fertilizers.