Abstract

The composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Thymus daenensis Wild, an endemic species from Iran, was studied. The volatile oil obtained by hydrodistillation was characterized by the physico-chemical properties, gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) techniques. Thirty compounds, accounting for 97.5% of the total oil, were identified. The main constituents were thymol (29.8%) and carvacrol (13.6%), p-cymene (11.3), borneol (6.8%) and 1, 8-cineole (5.89%). The antimicrobial activity of essential oil of T. daenensis was tested against two Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and three fungi by disc diffusion method. The results of the bioassays showed the interesting antimicrobial activity, in which the Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, was the most sensitive to the oil, as well the oil exhibited a remarkable antifungal activity against all the tested fungi. These results confirm the possibility of using T. daenensis in food system, medicine and pharmacy.

Key words: Antimicrobial activity, crop, essential oil, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), Thymus daenesis.