Antioxidative constituents of Rosmarinus officinalis and Salvia officinalis. I. Determination of phenolic diterpenes with antioxidative activity amongst tocochromanols using HPLC.

The strong antioxidative activity of Rosmarinus officinalis and Salvia officinalis is caused by phenolic diterpenes. Extracts of these herbs are used as additives to stabilize fat and fat-containing foodstuffs against oxidation. To determine the concentration of individual phenolic diterpenes in pure extracts and fats an HPLC method with electrochemical detection has been developed.