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The research aims to indicate which of the structural elements of monoterpenes are responsible for their antioxidant activity. The activity was determined spectrophotometrically with the use of the DPPH(•) assay. It has been shown that π bonds are responsible for the chain-breaking antioxidant activity of monoterpenes. It has been proved, for the first time, that blocking of conjugated double bonds leads to a decrease of the antioxidant activity of monoterpenes. A probable reaction mechanism between monoterpenes and DPPH(•) has been proposed. It has been indicated that the antioxidant activity of monoterpenes strongly depends on the polarity of solvent used in the experiments. The presented results may stimulate additional research in the field of terpenoid antioxidants.

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Twenty species of Salvia, naturally grown or cultivated in Poland, are investigated by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. The main components of the volatile fraction of Salvia species are identified as alpha-pinene, camphene, beta-pinene, thujol, camphor, beta-chamigrene, and cadina-3,9-diene. There are also the compounds that can be considered as chemotaxonomic markers, namely beta-myrcene for Salvia lavadulifolia, beta-phelandrene for Salvia verticillata, tau-terpinene for Salvia stepposa, and isocaryophyllene and caryophyllene for Salvia officinalis. Certain compounds (such as o-cymene present in Salvia canariensis and Salvia stepposa; beta-trans-ocymene present in Salvia lavadulifolia, Salvia sclarea, and Salvia amplexicaulis; thujenone present in Salvia staminea, Salvia atropatana, Salvia jurisicii, and Salvia officinalis; and thujone present in Salvia azurea, Salvia lavandulifolia, Salvia hians, and Salvia triloba) can constitute chemotaxonomic advice for the aforementioned species. Also, the lack of certain compounds otherwise common in the individual sage species can be considered as chemotaxonomic advice (e.g., Salvia sclarea has no alpha-pinene and beta-pinene; Salvia lavadulifolia lacks camphene; Salvia triloba lacks beta-pinene and camphene; and Salvia officinalis lacks beta-chamigrene, thujol, and cadina-3,9-diene).