Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oil of Thymus algeriensis wild-growing in Libya

Abstract

The composition of essential oil isolated from Thymus algeriensis growing wild in Libya was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The essential oil was characterized with thymol (38.50%) as the major component. The oil was screened for antioxidant activity using DPPH assay, and compared to thymol and carvacrol. Antioxidant activity was high, with the IC50 of 0.299 mg/ml, compared to 0.403 and 0.105 mg/ml for thymol and carvacrol, and 0.0717 mg/ml for BHA. In addition, antimicrobial activity was tested against eight bacteria and eight fungi. T. algeriensis oil showed inhibitory activity against tested bacteria at 0.001-0.05 mg/ml, while bactericidal activity (MBC) was achieved at 0.0025-0.05 mg/ml. For antifungal activity MICs ranged 0.0005-0.025 mg/ml and MFC 0.001-0.05 mg/ml. High antimicrobial activity against the fungi in particular suggests that the essential oil of Thymus algeriensis could have a useful practical application.