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Salvia sclarea Linn. commonly known as clary sage, is an important medicinal herb with high market demand. To assess properties suitable for commercial exploitation, physiological and biochemical studies were conducted at different climatic zones in the Western Himalayas. These include Jammu (subtropical; 305 m), Srinagar (temperate; 1730 m) and Leh (cold arid; 3505 m) environment. Antioxidant capacity based on radical scavenging and DNA protecting activity of the plants growing at three locations was found to be highest in Srinagar. The cellular damage in terms of lipid peroxidation was found significantly (p <= 0.05) higher in Jammu as compared to Srinagar and Leh. SOD and GR showed significant (p <= 0.05) differences between all three climatic zones. High expression of GR at higher altitudes is also corroborated by higher reduced state of glutathione. Significant (p <= 0.05) increase in floral characteristics like inflorescence and spike length was observed at Leh. Chemical investigation of essential oil revealed the increased percentage of linalool and sclareol, two commercially important constituents, in Leh. 52.9 and 39.4 % increase was observed in the metabolic content of sclareol in Leh as compared to their values in Jammu and Srinagar, respectively. Higher floral biomass and qualitative increase in essential oil suggest that cold arid Himalayan region can be exploited for commercial cultivation of clary sage.