Original Articles
Kontogiorgis Christos, Mpompou
Abstract
The genus Thymus (family Lamiaceae) is one of the eight most important genera as regards number of species within the Lamiaceae family. It is a perennial herbaceous plant indigenous to central and southern Europe, and is now widely cultivated as a tea, spice, and herbal medicine. Its leaf is listed in the German and British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, and has been used as a stomachic, carminative, diuretic, urinary disinfectant, and vermifuge. The essential oil composition from Thymus sibthorpii Bentham collected from North Greece and Thymus striatus Vahl. collected from South Albania have been investigated by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy. α-terpinyl acetate (68.9%), α-terpineol (11.0%) and thymol (7.9%), were found to be the major compounds of T. sibthorpii. Thymol (53.6%), p-cymene (18.6%) and γ-terpinene (9.4%), were found to be the major compounds of T. striatus. Furthermore, the oils and thymol, the major component of T. striatus, were evaluated for their antioxidant activity using the DPPH interaction, as well as for their anti-inflammatory activity using the soybean lipoxygenase bioassay.