Investigation of the stability of sage leaves and fennel fruits

For the essential oil containing herbal drugs sage leaves and bitter fennel fruits, stability parameters during storage such as temperature, particle size, and packing materials were studied in view of the quantity and the qu ality of the respective essential oils. Furthermore, the influence of defin ed stress conditions was controlled. It was obvious that depending upon the external parameters the specific volatility of the compounds was an import ant basis of the herbal drug alterations. In some cases it could be shown t hat chemical variations occurred in defined labile constituents due to temp erature and influence of oxidation. The impact of the results on the stabil ity and utilization in pharmaceutical practice is discussed.