Chemical Compositions of Essential Oil Extracted from Eight Thyme Species and Potential Biological Functions
<i>Thymus</i> is an herbaceous perennial or subshrub of the Lamiaceae family and is widely distributed worldwide. Essential oils extracted from <i>thymus</i> have attracted much attention, owing to their potential biological functions. Here, we evaluated the chemical composit...
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/24/4164 |
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| author | Yanmei Dong Ziling Wei Rui Yang Yanan Zhang Meiyu Sun Hongtong Bai Meiling Mo Chunlei Yao Hui Li Lei Shi |
| author_facet | Yanmei Dong Ziling Wei Rui Yang Yanan Zhang Meiyu Sun Hongtong Bai Meiling Mo Chunlei Yao Hui Li Lei Shi |
| author_sort | Yanmei Dong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Thymus</i> is an herbaceous perennial or subshrub of the Lamiaceae family and is widely distributed worldwide. Essential oils extracted from <i>thymus</i> have attracted much attention, owing to their potential biological functions. Here, we evaluated the chemical compositions of eight thyme essential oils (TEOs) using gas chromatography mass spectrometry and assessed their antioxidant activity. The results showed that (1) the main components in eight TEOs were monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes (84.26–92.84%), and the chemical compositions of the TEOs were affected by the specie factor; (2) eight TEOs could be divided into three groups (thymol-, geraniol-, and nerol acetate-types), and thymol was the main type; (3) eight TEOs had some common compounds, such as thymol and p-cymene, which were the main components in seven TEOs; (4) eight TEOs had antioxidant activity, and <i>Thymus pulegioides</i>, <i>Thymus thracicus,</i> and <i>Thymus serpyllum</i> EOs had stronger antioxidant activity than vitamin E (0.07–0.27 fold) at a concentration of 1 mg/mL, while <i>Thymus quinquecostatus</i> and <i>Thymus longicaulis</i> EOs had relatively weak antioxidant activity. In addition, three chemical type standards were used to evaluate potential roles in antibacterial and tumor therapy. The results showed that thymol had strong antibacterial activity against the growth of <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, and antimigratory activity for A549 cell. Overall, our results can provide a theoretical basis for further exploring the function of natural products from thyme essential oils. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T18:35:07Z |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T18:35:07Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
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| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-bac96166cc0e42d8ad28a33e0bbc68512023-12-29T15:47:33ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472023-12-011224416410.3390/plants12244164Chemical Compositions of Essential Oil Extracted from Eight Thyme Species and Potential Biological FunctionsYanmei Dong0Ziling Wei1Rui Yang2Yanan Zhang3Meiyu Sun4Hongtong Bai5Meiling Mo6Chunlei Yao7Hui Li8Lei Shi9State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, ChinaSinno Cosmetics Co., Ltd., Zhongshan 528451, ChinaSinno Cosmetics Co., Ltd., Zhongshan 528451, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China<i>Thymus</i> is an herbaceous perennial or subshrub of the Lamiaceae family and is widely distributed worldwide. Essential oils extracted from <i>thymus</i> have attracted much attention, owing to their potential biological functions. Here, we evaluated the chemical compositions of eight thyme essential oils (TEOs) using gas chromatography mass spectrometry and assessed their antioxidant activity. The results showed that (1) the main components in eight TEOs were monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes (84.26–92.84%), and the chemical compositions of the TEOs were affected by the specie factor; (2) eight TEOs could be divided into three groups (thymol-, geraniol-, and nerol acetate-types), and thymol was the main type; (3) eight TEOs had some common compounds, such as thymol and p-cymene, which were the main components in seven TEOs; (4) eight TEOs had antioxidant activity, and <i>Thymus pulegioides</i>, <i>Thymus thracicus,</i> and <i>Thymus serpyllum</i> EOs had stronger antioxidant activity than vitamin E (0.07–0.27 fold) at a concentration of 1 mg/mL, while <i>Thymus quinquecostatus</i> and <i>Thymus longicaulis</i> EOs had relatively weak antioxidant activity. In addition, three chemical type standards were used to evaluate potential roles in antibacterial and tumor therapy. The results showed that thymol had strong antibacterial activity against the growth of <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, and antimigratory activity for A549 cell. Overall, our results can provide a theoretical basis for further exploring the function of natural products from thyme essential oils.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/24/4164thymeessential oilchemical typeantioxidantmultivariate statistical analysis |
| spellingShingle | Yanmei Dong Ziling Wei Rui Yang Yanan Zhang Meiyu Sun Hongtong Bai Meiling Mo Chunlei Yao Hui Li Lei Shi Chemical Compositions of Essential Oil Extracted from Eight Thyme Species and Potential Biological Functions Plants thyme essential oil chemical type antioxidant multivariate statistical analysis |
| title | Chemical Compositions of Essential Oil Extracted from Eight Thyme Species and Potential Biological Functions |
| title_full | Chemical Compositions of Essential Oil Extracted from Eight Thyme Species and Potential Biological Functions |
| title_fullStr | Chemical Compositions of Essential Oil Extracted from Eight Thyme Species and Potential Biological Functions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chemical Compositions of Essential Oil Extracted from Eight Thyme Species and Potential Biological Functions |
| title_short | Chemical Compositions of Essential Oil Extracted from Eight Thyme Species and Potential Biological Functions |
| title_sort | chemical compositions of essential oil extracted from eight thyme species and potential biological functions |
| topic | thyme essential oil chemical type antioxidant multivariate statistical analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/24/4164 |
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