sage
spice or herb / spice-sage
セージ
Sage is the leaves of the herb sage (Salvia officinalis). Sources describe it as slightly bitter, and bitterness was also rated in a test in which it was steeped in fish oil.
On this page (8 sections)
Reading the bitterness
The taste of sage is described in an explanation by a Japanese food company as an herb with a refreshing, strong aroma resembling mugwort and a mild bitterness. A product description from another company likewise states a mugwort-like fragrance and a refreshing mild bitterness, and also describes the leaves as accompanied by slight bitterness and astringency. The introduction of a paper on composition analysis also has a sentence stating that it has a pungent, bitter taste. All of these are descriptions: none measured bitterness intensity, and none measured astringency and bitterness separately.
As for the substance behind the bitterness, a review's table lists carnosic acid (a diterpene) as common to rosemary and sage and gives the bitter taste receptor as unknown. This is not a result that allows the cause of sage's bitterness to be pinned on carnosic acid. In a test in which a 5-member panel evaluated a macerate of sage leaves steeped in cod liver oil, it was reported that, compared with pure fish oil, there were sage and herb aroma and taste, and also bitterness. The authors go no further than saying that this bitterness might also be related to the essential oil and polyphenols; the bitterness scores are in a figure only, and the panel is small.
On drinking it, an explanatory article in the Journal of Cookery Science of Japan suggests that when using herbs with strong bitterness or a distinctive aroma, such as sage, in herbal tea, using a small amount and blending with other herbs makes it easier to drink. This is not an experimental result. In a test adding 5 herbs to oat and buckwheat cookies, a 7-member trained panel reported that the bitter aftertaste decreased across the cookies with herbs. However, the decrease was a trend across all 5 species, the text has no value for sage alone, and the buckwheat base is itself bitter.
The result for a different species has to be read separately. An aqueous extract obtained from a distillation byproduct of Spanish sage (Salvia lavandulifolia) was described by trained assessors as having a faint chamomile and herb flavor, with no bitterness or astringency. Candy made with 0.75 g/kg added scored only 10 and 14 correct out of 28 in a triangle test, short of the 15 needed for significance. This species is different from the main species used in cooking, and the result is not a measurement of the bitterness of the leaf, so it cannot serve as evidence for the bitterness of culinary sage.
Sources for this overview
セージ／Sage｜スパイス&ハーブ検索（エスビー食品 スパイス&ハーブ総合研究所）
Checked for this overview: The description of mild bitterness and slight bitterness and astringency in the company explanation was used in paragraph 1.
Checked for this overview: The description of refreshing mild bitterness in the product description was used in paragraph 1.
Checked for this overview: The one sentence about a pungent, bitter taste in a paper's introduction was used in paragraph 1.
Checked for this overview: The review table's entry of carnosic acid and an unknown receptor was used in paragraph 2.
Checked for this overview: The point that the cod liver oil macerate was bitter was used in paragraph 2.
Checked for this overview: The suggestion to use a small amount in herbal tea and blend it was used in paragraph 3.
Checked for this overview: The point that the bitter aftertaste decreased overall in cookies was used in paragraph 3.
Checked for this overview: The result that the extract of a different species had no bitterness was used in paragraph 4, with a note that it is a different species.
Follow the connections
sage →— sensory attribute→ bitterness →can be measured separately …→ astringency
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Composition and content (1)
Scope: The table of a review (a summary of Bayer et al. and Zaikin et al.). The entry common to rosemary and sage.
Note: This is a review's table, and we have not confirmed the original sensory or receptor experiments. The bitter taste receptor column is 'unknown'. It cannot be asserted that the bitterness of sage is due to carnosic acid.
Show data
spice-sage —has_bitterness_attributed_to→ (the claim sentence above)Sensory (3)
Scope: A macerate of sage (Salvia officinalis) in cod liver oil. Sensory panel of 5 (experienced in sensory evaluation).
Note: The panel is small, at 5 members, and the numerical value of bitterness intensity is only in Figure 3, not in the text. The authors state that the bitterness of the macerate might also be related to the essential oil and polyphenols; it was not tied to a specific component. The macerate contained 1.116 mg/g of carnosic acid and 0.376 mg/g of carnosol.
Show data
spice-sage —has_sensory_response→ (the claim sentence above)Scope: Oat and buckwheat cookies. Samples with 5 Lamiaceae herbs added and an unsupplemented control. Trained panel of 7.
Note: The bitter aftertaste scores are not given by herb in the text (Figure 1a only). No value for sage alone was taken. Use it only within the range that sage did not add bitterness. It is the same experiment as on the rosemary page, and the 2 pages do not count it as separate evidence. The text has no value for sage alone (figure only).
Show data
spice-sage —has_sensory_response→ (the claim sentence above)Scope: Jelly candy (strawberry flavor, sugar-free). Made with 2 aqueous extracts of Salvia lavandulifolia (SE38 and SE70) added at 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 g/kg (the triangle test used only the 0.75 g/kg samples). By trained assessors.
Note: The species is Salvia lavandulifolia, different from S. officinalis, the main species of sage used in cooking. The aqueous extract is a distillation byproduct containing almost no essential oil. The result is a negative finding, 'no bitterness', and is not a measurement of the bitterness intensity of sage leaf. The text says 8 experienced assessors, but the triangle test was '4 trials per 1 person', giving 28 trials, which corresponds to 7 people, so the numbers do not match. It is not counted among the claims on the sage page that state bitterness explicitly (different species; extract).
Show data
spice-sage —has_sensory_response→ (the claim sentence above)How processing and cooking change it (1)
Scope: An explanatory article in the Journal of Cookery Science of Japan (suggestions for enjoying herbal tea). Thyme, rosemary and sage are given as examples.
Note: This is a suggestion in an explanatory article, not the result of an experiment. The original also touches on medicinal effects, but this laboratory does not adopt them as a claim. There is no measurement of bitterness intensity.
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spice-sage —has_perceived_bitterness_suppressed_by→ (the claim sentence above)Culture (1)
Scope: Descriptions of the taste of sage given in explanations by Japanese food companies (S&B Foods and House Foods) and in the introduction of a research paper (mild bitterness; slight bitterness and astringency).
Note: These are descriptions, not measurements of intensity. The companies' explanations are product descriptions, and the 1 sentence in the paper's introduction is a statement cited by a composition analysis paper (the source of the citation is not shown in the text). None measured astringency and bitterness separately.
Show data
spice-sage —has_sensory_attribute→ sensation-bitter