Methyl carnosate, an antibacterial diterpene isolated from Salvia officinalis leaves.

Ethanolic extracts of Salvia officinalis leaves demonstrated antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus. Fractionation of the extracts led to the isolation of the most active antibacterial compound, which, from spectroscopic and LC-MS evidence, was proved to be the diterpene, methyl carnosate.