Известия высших учебных заведений. Поволжский регион: Естественные науки (Apr 2023)

Comparative analysis of the fatty acid composition of various species of Thymus (Lamiaceae)

  • E.S. Bogdanova,
  • V.M. Vasjukov,
  • O.A. Rozentsvet

DOI
https://doi.org/10.21685/2307-9150-2023-1-6
Journal volume & issue
no. 1

Abstract

Read online

Background. Plants of the Thymus L. are traditionally used in medicine due to the presence in them of biologically active compounds with medicinal properties. Thymus serpyllum L. and T. vulgaris L. are recognized and used in official medicine. It is assumed that T talijevii Klokov et Des.-Shost., T. dubjanskyi Klokov et Des.-Shost., T. eltonicus Klokov et Des.-Shost., T. cretaceus Klokov et Des.-Shost. can be promising species for pharmacy. The biological activity of Thymus is associated primarily with the presence in them of phenolic compounds, essential oils, while the composition of fatty acids (FA) is a little studied object. The purpose of this work is to conduct a comparative study of the composition of FA in plants of the genus Thymus from different ecological and geographical regions. Materials and methods. The study used fresh leaves from T. dubjanskyi, T. eltonicus, T. cretaceus and T. talijevii collected from natural populations. Analysis of FA was carried out by gas-liquid chromatography in the form of methyl esters. Results. The composition of FA in the leaves of the studied plants were dominated by unsaturated FA due to the high content of α-linolenic and linoleic acids. Our results were compared with the data of the FA composition obtained from the dry aerial part and essential oils of thyme grown in the territories of Algeria, Portugal, Tunisia, and Turkey. It is shown that the composition of FA of thyme essential oils obtained from dried material is more enriched with saturated FA. At the same time, the FA composition obtained from fresh leaf extracts can differ up to 5 times in comparison with dry material. Conclusion. It has been shown that the content of FA in thyme leaves can strongly depend on the species characteristics of plants and the ecological conditions of their growth, and the quantitative characteristics of the composition of FA is directly related to the chosen analytical approach.

Keywords