Chemical Composition of the Essential Oils of Three Thymus Taxa from Turkey with Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities

GC-MS analysis of the essential oils from aerial parts of Thymus migricus Klokov & Des.-Shost, Thymus fallax Fisch. & Mey. and Thymus pubescens Boiss. & Kotschy ex Celak var. pubescens resulted in the identification of 26, 35 and 53 constituents, respectively. The major components in the essential oil of T. migricus were found to be α-terpineol (30.6%), thymol (20.7%) and α-terpinyl acetate (14.9%) while in the essentiol oil of T. fallaxcis-carveol (29.6%) and α-terpineol (10.8%). Carvacrol was a dominant compound with a percentage 66.1% of the essential oil of T. pubescens var. pubescens. The data obtained indicate that the essential oils of Thymus species generally exhibit some bacteriostatic activity. The antioxidant activity of the tested essential oils were found to be slightly lower than butylatedhydroxyanisole (BHA).