Comparative study of the volatile constituents of Thymus serpyllum L. grown at different altitudes of Western Himalayas

Abstract

Thymus serpyllum L., a well-known aromatic plant of the Himalayan region is often used in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, flavoring and fragrance industries because of its phenolic and non-phenolic constituents. The amount of these compounds varies with the origin, the climatic conditions and the developmental stage of harvesting time of the plant. Under different environmental conditions, plant specimen of the same species respond differently through production and accumulation of the primary and secondary metabolites. In the present work, T. serpyllum L. was collected from its natural habitat and grown at different agro-climatic zones, i.e., Auli (higher Himalayas; 2744 m asl), Pithoragarh (lower Himalayas; 1524 m asl) and Haldwani (foothill areas; 412 m asl). The essential oil from fresh aerial parts of cultivated plants at full blooming stage was obtained using Clevenger apparatus and analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. The amount of thymol was also quantified by HPTLC. The data were statistically analyzed using MS Excel and SPSS 16.0. The percentage yield of the essential oils varied from 0.20 to 0.84%. Thymol was the major compound found in all the three cultivations, being the highest for Haldwani (84.63%) followed by Auli (50.80%) and Pithoragarh (41.15%) cultivations. Camphor was the second major compound, only identified in Pithoragarh (36.34%) region. Alpha-thujene, p-cymene, alpha-terpineol, (E)-caryophyllene, beta-bisabolene, alpha-pinene and carvacrol were also identified in significant amounts. HPTLC quantification suggested the similar pattern of thymol percentage as obtained from GC-FID. The study revealed that there was a significant difference in the terpenoid constituents of the plant grown at different agro-climatic zones. Thymus serpyllum grown at lower altitude area (warm climatic zone) can be a potential source of thymol along with high essential oil yield.

Exploration of Productivity, Chemical Composition, and Antioxidant Potential of Origanum vulgare L. Grown at Different Geographical Locations of Western Himalaya, India

“…e highest herbage yield was obtained for the Auli cultivation (3.43 kg) followed by Pithoragarh (2.70 kg) and Haldwani cultivations (0.90 kg), respectively, in the same plot size (2 × 2 m). In contrast, the previous results on T. serpyllum of the same family showed that the highest herbage yield was obtained at Haldwani cultivation, followed by Pithoragarh and Auli, respectively [32].…”

“…In contrast, Habibi et al and Jamshidi et al reported that the oil yield of ymus kotschyanus decreased as the elevation of the collection site increased [35,36]. According to Goyal et al [32], the highest essential oil yield for ymus serpyllum was obtained at the lowest altitude. e extracted oils were pale yellow in color.…”

Variation in Antioxidant Activity and Antioxidant Constituents of Thymus Serpyllum L Grown in Different Climatic Conditions of Uttarakhand Himalayas

“…In our previous study on chemical constituents of Thymus serpyllum L., cultivated at above mentioned locations, the highest herbage yield, oil % and major constituents in the oil were obtained at the foothill cultivation i.e. Haldwani, followed by Auli and Pithoragarh, respectively 17 .…”

Non-Volatile and Volatile Bioactives of Salvia officinalis L., Thymus serpyllum L. and Laurus nobilis L. Extracts with Potential Use in the Development of Functional Beverages

“…The results obtained for the WT extract showed that the main volatile compound was carvacrol (19.24%), while thymoquinone, geraniol and thymol were present at concentrations of 11.3, 11.7 and 11.9%, respectively. Previously, the studies reported carvacrol and thymol as the most abundant compounds in wild thyme essential oil [ 75 , 76 , 77 ]. At the same time, thymol is also reported as the main compound of wild thyme hydrolate [ 78 ] and hydrolates of other Thymus species such as Thymus mastichina L. [ 79 ], T. vulgaris and Thymus zygis Loefl.…”