Composition and antimicrobial studies of essential oil of Thymus vulgaris from Montenegro

Abstract

Chemical composition of the hydrodistilled essential oil of Thymus vulgaris L. (thyme) from Montenegro was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and its antimicrobial activity was evaluated against 10 microorganisms, including reference and clinically isolated strains. T. vulgaris essential oil yield was 0.42% (v/w, based on the dry leaves weight) whereas the analysis showed that major components, amongst 22 identified in the oil, were geraniol (25.66%), geranyl-acetate (20.34%), linalool (10.89%) and caryophyllene oxide (9.89%). The results of the antimicrobial activity tests revealed that the essential oil of T .vulgaris from Montenegro has rather strong antimicrobial activity, especially against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and Klebsiella pneumoniae. These results confirm the potential use of T. vulgaris essential oil in food products the as well as for therapeutic applications.

Keywords

• Thymus vulgaris L.
• essential oil
• chemical composition
• antimicrobial activity