Essential oil composition of three species of thymus growing wild in Mazandaran, Iran

Abstract

The genus Thymus has a wide distributional range and chemical composition of the essential oils varies with geographical location of collection site, climate and other ecological factors. The essential oils of the aerial parts were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Twenty seven components were characterized in the essential oil of T. fedtschenkoi. The major constituents of the oil were carvacrol (69.04%), thymol (5.95%), borneol (5.21%), p-cymene (4.20%), bornyl acetate (2.97%) and 1,8- cineole (2.72%). Twenty two components were characterized in the essential oil of T. trauveterri. The major constituents of the oil were carvacrol (54.02%), thymol (9.29%), borneol (3.51%), p-cymene (18.64%) and γ- terpinene (2.97%). Twenty six components were characterized in the essential oil of T. pubescens. The major constituents of the oil were carvacrol (13.85%), α-terpineol (11.49%), thymol (10%), geraniol (9.48%), α-pinene (8.52%), p- cymene (7.66%), camphor (4.66%), γ-terpinene (3.15%) and myrcene (2.22%). Twenty four components were characterized in the essential oil of T. fallax. The major constituents of the oil were carvacrol (41.84%), p-cymene (12.18%), α-terpineol (11.49%), thymol (10%), γ-terpinene (8.68%), borneol (5.11%), geraniol (4.35%) and geranyl acetate (2.16%).