Volatile oil composition and antimicrobial activity of two Thymus species

Mojtaba Hosseini Behbahani, Younes Ghasemi, Mohammad Javad Khoshnoud, Pouya Faridi, Gholamali Moradli, Nima Montazeri Najafabady

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background Medicinal plants have potential for using as antimicrobial agents against pathogens. In genus Thymus (Lamiaceae), phenolic compounds with terpene origin are responsible of these effects. Objective Evaluated essential oil constituents and antimicrobial activity of Thymus daenensis compared with Thymus vulgaris. Materials and methods Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger were used for antimicrobial activity assay with using disc diffusion technique. Volatiles oils compositions were analyzed by GC/MS. Results Escherichia coli was resistant to essential oils. Essential oil obtained from T. daenensis showed better antimicrobial activity than with T. vulgaris. Thymol (84.45%) and carvacrol (46.62%) were the main components of T. daenensis and T. vulgaris respectively. Conclusion The results showed that T. daenensis was more effective and could be an alternative for T. vulgaris. In addition, these essential oils could be used as natural antimicrobial agents.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)77-79
Number of pages3
JournalPharmacognosy Journal
Volume5
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Antimicrobial and antifungal activity
  • Essential oil
  • Medicinal plants

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