Essential oils, chemical constituents, antioxidant, antibacterial and in vitro cytotoxic activity of different Thymus species and Zataria multiflora collected from Iran
Pooran Golkar, Nima Mosavat, Seyed Amir Hossein Jalali
Abstract
The present study evaluated the essential oil (EO) compositions, total phenolics (TPC), total flavonoids (TFD), total flavonols (TFL), anthocyanin (Ant) and biological activities of three Thymus population (T. daenensis Celak; T. vulgaris L. and T. kotschyanus Celak and Zataria multiflora Boiss collected from diverse geographical locations in Iran. Carvacrol (4.99 - 46.22%) and thymol (14.8 - 70.12%) were the identified as the most abundant compounds in EOs of all the evaluated species. The highest TPC (162.87 mg GAE/g DW), TFD (77.34 mg RE/g DW), Ant (2.34 µmol/g FW) and antioxidant activity (2.78 mg AAE/g) was observed in T. kotschyanus. The most potent antibacterial and anticancer activities were observed in T. kotschyanus. The findings of the study revealed that the EOs in Thymus sp. and Z. multiflora were rich in bioactive compounds whose elite biological effects specially in T. kotschyanus, can be used in food and medicinal industries as natural preservative ingredient.