Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Thymus ciliatus (Desf.) Benth. Essential Oils of Algeria

The aim of this work was to study the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of essential oils of Thymus ciliatus (Desf.) Benth from middle Algeria obtained from the aerial parts by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The oil was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antioxidant capacity values of T ciliatus extracts were determined using 2 different and complementary assays: free radical scavenging (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl [DPPH]) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Six samples of T ciliatus collected in 2019 were used in the study. GC and GC-MS were used to determine the chemical composition of the essential oils. Twenty-five compounds were identified with a percentage of 89.3%-97.7%. The essential oils of T ciliatus were characterized by the presence of myrcene (9.6%-26.9%), p-cymene (7.6%-17.0%), and borneol (13.4%-30.2%) as principal components.