ESSENTIAL OIL COMPOSITION AND IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF THYMUS CAPPADOCICUS BOISS.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the phenolic contents, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanol extract (ME), ethanol extract, water extract (WE) and essential oil of Thymuscappadocicus Boiss. The essential oil composition of a hydrodistilled essential oil of T.cappadocicus was analyzed by a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry system. Thymol (70.82%), p-cymene (9.52%), -terpinene (9.27%) and carvacrol (4.65%) were found to be the main constituents. Several potential antioxidant activities, including phosphomolybdenum, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging and -carotene bleaching activity, were evaluated. ME was found to be the most active free radical scavenger. In the -carotene-linoleic acid system, the extracts and essential oil exhibited strong inhibition against linoleic acid oxidation. The essential oil and extracts were also screened for their antimicrobial activity against 15 microorganisms. The results showed that the essential oil of T.cappadocicus had great antimicrobial activity potential against microorganisms tested. In contrast, the WE showed no antimicrobial activity. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThymus species are widely consumed as a spice and tea in Turkish traditional medicine. Recently, there has been considerable interest in the extracts and essential oils of aromatic plants with antimicrobial activities for controlling pathogens and/or toxin producing microorganisms in foods. Antioxidants are compounds that, when added to food products, act as radical scavengers, prevent the radical chain reactions of oxidation, delay or inhibit the oxidation process and increase shelf life by retarding the process of lipid peroxidation. In addition, oxidized polyunsaturated fatty acids may induce the progression of a great number of pathological disturbances. Owing to the strong antimicrobial and excellent protective features that they exhibited in antioxidant activity tests, the extracts and essential oil of T.cappadocicus may be considered as a natural source suitable for use in the food and pharmaceutical industries, in addition to its use in alternative medicine and as a natural therapy.