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Abstract
Garden thyme is an aromatic plant with various applications in the pharmaceutical, food, and hygienic-cosmetic industries around the world. In this research, field-cultivated plants were harvested in two cuts and three consecutive stages (pre-flowering, flowering, and post-flowering). The essential oil percentage and compositions were identified in the essential oil samples. The antibacterial activity of the essential oil was measured against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The antioxidant activity, total phenol and flavonoid contents, chain-breaking activity, and IC50 were recorded. The highest essential oil percentage (2.56%) was obtained from the pre-flowering stage. The results of GC/MS revealed that p-cymene, γ-terpinene, thymol, and carvacrol were the most important constituents of the studied essential oil. The lowest antibacterial activity was recorded by the second cut at the pre-flowering stage. The highest antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus were recorded by the second cut during the flowering stage and the first cut during the flowering stage, respectively. The lowest MIC was 15.75 μg mL-1 related to the second cut during the flowering stage. The plants had the highest total phenol (16.64 mg GAE g-1 DM) and total flavonoid contents (2.88 mg QE g-1 DM) at the pre-flowering stage. The highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 134.05 μg mL-1) was observed at the pre-flowering stage. It can be said that phenological stages and cuts can affect essential oil antibacterial and antioxidant activities, as well as its chemical characteristics.
Highlights
Garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) is a medicinal and aromatic plant species from the family Lamiaceae
The results revealed the effectiveness of the thyme essential oil against the tested bacteria
The biochemical properties and the measurement of the antimicrobial activity showed that a higher percentage of aliphatic and oxygen-containing monoterpenes and mainly phenol monoterpenes such as thymol were responsible for the antioxidant activity of the studied essential oil
Summary
Garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) is a medicinal and aromatic plant species from the family Lamiaceae. The latest findings show that the essential oil of this plant species contains over 80 compounds, most of which have antioxidant and antimicrobial activities (Wesolowska & Jadczak, 2019). Phenol compounds like thymol (44-60%) and carvacrol (2.2-4.%) are among the main components of its essential oil (Pasqua et al, 2005). The constituents of the shoot essential oils of T. kotschyanus and T. pubescens were studied at the full flowering stage in Behshahr, Iran. The main components in the essential oil of T. kotschyanus were reported to include pulegone (18.7%), thymol (14.17%), 1,8-cineole (9%), piperitenone (6.3%), and carvacrol (37%). The essential oil of T. pubescens was found to mainly compose of 32.1% carvacrol, 19.1% thymol, 14.6% α -terpineol, and 6.1% p-cymene (Morteza-Semnani et al, 2006)
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