Antimicrobial and Insecticidal Activities of the Endemic Thymus broussonetti Boiss. and Thymus maroccanus Ball.

The objective of this study was to determine the antimicrobial and the insecticidal activities of essential oils (EOs) extracted from the leaves of Thymus broussonetii and Thymus maroccanus . These two endemic plants of Morocco, which are traditionally used in medicinal remedies, were collected from Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region. The EOs were extracted by direct steam distillation and their chemical constituents were analyzed and quantified by gas GC-MS and GC. The dominant components identified were p-cymene (21.0%), borneol (16.5%), α-pinene (11.8%) and thymol (11.3%) for T. broussonetti and carvacrol (33.0%), p-cymene (25.3%) and α-pinene (11.6%) for T. maroccanus . The investigation by the agar-diffusion method of the antibacterial activity of EOs proved that they have antibacterial effects against Staphylococcus aureus , Salmonella sp. , Escherichia coli, Non-O1 Vibrio cholerae and Bacillus subtilis . The obtained results showed that T. maroccanus EOs possessed higher antibacterial effects on some studied bacteria than T. broussonetti EOs. The EOs of T. broussonetii and T. maroccanus also presented insecticidal activity against the fourth instar larvae of Culex pipiens .