Abstract
This paper presents the results of a study on chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Thymus pannonicus All. (Lamiaceae) essential oil from Vojvodina province (north of Serbia). The investigated oil was hydrodistilled from a flowering plant and analysed by GC and GC-MS. Fifty-three constituents were identified (>97% of total oil), with geranial (41.42%, w/w) and neral (29.61%, w/w) as the most prominent. The antimicrobial activity of the oil was evaluated using agar disc diffusion and broth microdilution method against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, two strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae and two strains of Candida albicans. The essential oil exhibited antimicrobial activity to varying degrees against all tested strains. The maximum activity of T. Pannonicus oil was observed against E. coli, S. aureus and both tested strains of C. Albicans (MIC = 50 µ/ml, each). Moderate activity was observed against P. aeruginosa and one of the tested strains of K. Pneumoniae (MIC = 200 µ/ml), while E. faecalis and the other strain of K. Pneumoniae expressed a higher degree of resistance (MIC > 200 µ/ml). This study confirms that essential oil of T. pannonicus possesses remarkable in vitro antimicrobial activity against several medicinally important pathogens. This is attributable to lemon-scented citral, a mixture of geranial and neral, which has well-documented antimicrobial activity against a range of bacteria and fungi.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dorman H.J., Deans S.G., Antimicrobial agents from plants: antibacterial activity of plant volatile oils, J. Appl. Microbiol., 2000, 88, 308–316
Cowan M., Plant products as antimicrobial agents, Clin. Microbiol. Rev., 1999, 12, 564–582
Jalas J., Thymus L., in: Tutin T.G., Heywood V.H., Burges N.A., Moore D.M., Valentine D.H., Walters S.M., et al., Flora Europaea, Vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1972, 172–182
Diklić N., Thymus L., In: Josifović M. (Ed.), Flora SR Srbije, Tome VI, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, 1974, 475–509, (in Serbian)
Morales R., Studies on the genus Thymus, Lamiales Newsletter, 1996, 4, 6–8
Didry N., Dubreuil L., Pinkas M., Antibacterial activity of thymol, carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde alone or in combination, Pharmazie, 1993, 48, 301–304
Didry N., Dubreuil L., Pinkas M., Activity of thymol, carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde and eugenol on oral bacteria, Pharm. Acta Helv., 1994, 69, 25–28
Horváth Gy., Kocsis B., Botz L., Németh J., Szabó L.Gy., Antibacterial activity of Thymus phenols by direct bioautography, Acta Biol. Szeged., 2002, 46, 145–146
European Pharmacopoeia, 6th edition. Council of Europe — European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines, Strasbourg, 2007
Panjković-Matanović V., Biljnogeografska analiza flore Vršačkih planina, Matica Srpska, Novi Sad, 1989, (in Serbian)
Lakušić D., Blaženčić J., Ranđelović V., Butorac B., Vukojičić S., Zlatković B., et al., Staništa Srbije — priručnik sa opisima i osnovnim podacima, Ministry of Science and Environment Protection; Institute of Botany and Botanical Garden “Jevremovac”, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, 2005, (in Serbian, http://habitat.bio.bg.ac.yu or http://www.ekoserb.sr.gov.yu/projekti/stanista/)
Zeremski M., Geomorfologija Vršačkih planina, Matica Srpska, Novi Sad, 1985, (in Serbian)
Farmakopeja SFRJ, Pharmacopoea Jugoslavica IV, Federal Institute for Health Protection, Belgrade, 1984, (in Serbo-Croatian)
Adams R.P., Identification of essential oil component by gas chromatography/quadrupole mass spectrometry, Allured Publishing Corporation, Carol Stream, USA, 2001
Acar J.F., Goldstein F.W., Disc susceptibility test, In: Lorian V. (Ed.), Antibiotics in laboratory medicine, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, London, Los Angeles, Sydney, 1996, 1–52
Candan F., Unlu M., Tepe B., Daferera D., Polissiou M., Sökmen A., et al., Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil and methanol extracts of Achillea millefolium subsp. millefolium Afan. (Asteraceae), J. Ethnopharmacol., 2003, 87, 215–220
Karuza-Stojaković Lj., Pavlović S., Živanović P., Todorović B., Količina i sastav etarskih ulja različitih vrsta roda Thymus L., Arh. farm., 1989, 39, 105–111, (in Serbian)
Pluhár Zs., Héthelyi É., Kutta G., Kamondy L., Evaluation of environmental factors influencing essential oil quality of Thymus pannonicus All. and Thymus praecox Opiz, J. Herbs Spices Med. Plants, 2007, 3, 23–43
Kutta G., Pluhár Zs., Sárosi Sz., Yield and composition of supercritical fluid extracts of different Lamiaceae species, Int. J. Hort. Sci., 2007, 13, 79–82
Tepe B., Sokmen M., Akpulat H.A., Daferera D., Polissiou M., Sokmen A., Antioxidative activity of the essential oils of Thymus sipyleus subsp. sipyleus var. sipyleus and Thymus sipyleus subsp. sipyleus var. rosulans, J. Food Eng., 2005, 66, 447–454
Ložienė K., Venskutonis P.R., Influence of environmental and genetic factors on the stability of essential oil composition of Thymus pulegioides, Biochem. Syst. Ecol., 2005, 33, 517–525
Stahl-Biskup E., Holthuijzen J., Essential oil and glycosidically bound volatiles of lemon-scented thyme, Thymus x citriodorus (Pers.) Schreb, Flavour Fragr. J., 1995, 10, 225–229
Lis-Balchin M., Deans S.G., Bioactivity of selected plant essential oils against Listeria monocytogenes, J. Appl. Microbiol., 1997, 82, 759–762
Díaz L.H., Jorge M.R., Actividad antimicrobiana de plantas que crecen en Cuba, Rev. Cub. Plant. Med., 2001, 2, 44–47, (in Spanish)
Ohno T., Kita M., Yamaoka Y., Imamura S., Yamamoto T., Mitsufuji S., et al., Antimicrobial activity of essential oils against Helicobacter pylori, Helicobacter, 2003, 8, 207–215
Nguefack J., Budde B.B., Jakobsen M., Five essential oils from aromatic plants of Cameroon: their antibacterial activity and ability to permeabilize the cytoplasmic membrane of Listeria innocua examined by flow cytometry, Lett. Appl. Microbiol., 2004, 39, 395–400
Sartoratto A., Machado A.L.M., Delarmelina C., Figueira G.M., Duarte M.C.T., Rehder V.L.G., Composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oils from aromatic plants used in Brazil, Braz. J. Microbiol., 2004, 35, 275–280
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Maksimović, Z., Milenković, M., Vučićević, D. et al. Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Thymus pannonicus All. (Lamiaceae) essential oil. cent.eur.j.biol. 3, 149–154 (2008). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-008-0013-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-008-0013-x