Chemical Composition and Antioxidant and Anticandidal Activities of Essential Oils from Different Wild Moroccan Thymus Species

Abstract

Samples of the aerial parts of Thymus broussonetii, T. ciliatus, T. leptobotrys, T. maroccanus, T. pallidus, T. satureioides, and T. serpyllum collected from different natural regions in southern and south-western Morocco were analyzed for their qualitative and quantitative essential oil profiles. In total, 46 compounds, representing more than 99% of the oils, were characterized. Monoterpenes, both hydrocarbons (12.9-58.0%) and oxygenated monoterpenes (38.8-81.1%), were the principal classes of compounds for most of the thyme species studied. Cluster analysis allowed the classification of the species into three main groups: a carvacrol group (Group I), comprising the species T. maroccanus and T. leptobotrys, a linalyl acetate and (E)-nerolidol group (Group II), represented by T. serpyllum, and a thymol and/or carvacrol, γ-terpinene, and p-cymene group (Group III), composed of T. satureioides, T. broussonetii, T. ciliatus, and T. pallidus. The essential oils were screened for their antioxidant and anticandidal activities. The data showed that the oils obtained from T. leptobotrys and T. maroccanus (carvacrol group) possessed the highest antioxidant activities as assessed by the determination of the DPPH free radical-scavenging ability and the ferric-reducing potential. The anticandidal assays indicated that the highest activity was noticed for the essential oil isolated from T. leptobotrys.

Essential oil of <i>Thymus vulgaris</i> L. and <i>Rosmarinus officinalis</i> L.: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, cytotoxicity and antioxidant properties and antibacterial activities against foodborne pathogens

“…The concentrations that led to 50% inhibition (IC 50 ) for thyme and rosemary oil are 437 ± 5.46 µg/mL and 189 ± 2.38 µg/mL respectively. In this study, IC 50 of both used oil were less potent than the reference antioxidants butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and quercetin (IC 50 values of 4.21 ± 0.08 µg/mL and 1.07 ± 0.01 µg/mL respectively) [26]. However a significant correlation was observed across the oils between their antioxidant activity and the content of oxygenated monoterpenes (p = 0.001).…”

“…However, data regarding this activity of essential oils of thyme and rosemary are not abundant and the methods for determination are different [22,23]. On the contrary, the antimicrobial activity of the thyme and rosemary essential oils is well documented [7,8,[24][25][26]. But, these investigations are not so often performed with a precisely defined chemical composition of the essential oil in question.…”

Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Properties of the Essential Oils of Satureja thymbra and Satureja parnassica and their Major Constituents

“…In a study of 2012, for example, the essential oils of seven Thymus species were divided according to their content and tested for their antioxidant capacity. The group of oils that contained carvacrol as their main component demonstrated the highest activity (17). Carvacrol has also shown strong antioxidant capacity using different in vitro methods (18).…”

GC-MS analysis and in vitro antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activities of essential oil from aerial parts of endemic Thymus spathulifolius Hausskn. et Velen

“…Literature is scarce about reducing potentials of Thymus species hence we could not compare the results of present experiments. In some recent studies, ferric reducing powers of T. ciliatus and T. daenensis were reported by Jamali et al 38 and Saidi 47 , respectively. Phosphomolybdenum assay is based on the reduction of Mo(VI) to Mo(V) by the antioxidants at acidic pH and subsequent formation of green phosphate/Mo(V) complex which is measured spectrophotometrically at 695 nm.…”