Essential oil constituents, phenolic content and antioxidant activity in Iranian and British Thymus vulgaris L

The essential oil from the aerial parts of Iranian and British Thymus vulgaris L. were obtained by hydro distillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatographymass spectrometry (GC-MS). Forty two components were identified in the Iranian Th. vulgaris essential oil that represented 99.06% of the oils. The major components were thymol (60.54%), γTerpinene (9.47%), p-cymene (8.54%), carvacrol (3.33%) and Terpinolene (3.13%). In British Th. vulgaris, Forty six components were identified in essential oil that represented 99.51% of the oil. The major components were thymol (45.21%), p-cymene (12.90%), γ-Terpinene (8.07%), carvacrol (5.15%), Linalool (3.43%) and (E)Caryophyllene (2.45%). The total phenolic content and antioxidant activities of the methanolic extracts in both Thymus vulgaris, were determined spectrometrically according to the Folin-Ciocalteu procedure and the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assays respectively. The highest phenol content and radical scavenging was found in Iranian Th. vulgaris compare with British Th. vulgaris. In conclusion, our study shows that both Th. vulgaris cultivated in Iran, represent good potential sources of natural phenol and antioxidants useful for either prevention or treatment of oxidative stress-related diseases.