Chemical Compositions of Essential Oil Extracted from Eight Thyme Species and Potential Biological Functions

Abstract

Thymus is an herbaceous perennial or subshrub of the Lamiaceae family and is widely distributed worldwide. Essential oils extracted from thymus have attracted much attention, owing to their potential biological functions. Here, we evaluated the chemical compositions of eight thyme essential oils (TEOs) using gas chromatography mass spectrometry and assessed their antioxidant activity. The results showed that (1) the main components in eight TEOs were monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes (84.26–92.84%), and the chemical compositions of the TEOs were affected by the specie factor; (2) eight TEOs could be divided into three groups (thymol-, geraniol-, and nerol acetate-types), and thymol was the main type; (3) eight TEOs had some common compounds, such as thymol and p-cymene, which were the main components in seven TEOs; (4) eight TEOs had antioxidant activity, and Thymus pulegioides, Thymus thracicus, and Thymus serpyllum EOs had stronger antioxidant activity than vitamin E (0.07–0.27 fold) at a concentration of 1 mg/mL, while Thymus quinquecostatus and Thymus longicaulis EOs had relatively weak antioxidant activity. In addition, three chemical type standards were used to evaluate potential roles in antibacterial and tumor therapy. The results showed that thymol had strong antibacterial activity against the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and antimigratory activity for A549 cell. Overall, our results can provide a theoretical basis for further exploring the function of natural products from thyme essential oils.