Lyophilised ethanol and aqueous extracts of Rosmarinus officinalis young sprouts and total plant have been evaluated for choleretic and hepatoprotective activities in the rat. R. officinalis ethanol extracts prepared from young sprouts show a significant dose-related choleretic activity and are more active than the total plant extract. Aqueous extracts of young sprouts show a significant hepatoprotective effect on plasma GPT levels when given as pretreatment before carbon tetrachloride intoxication while the whole plant extract was inactive. Both sprouts and whole plant aqueous extracts were ineffective when given after carbon tetrachloride administration.