Thymus algeriensis Boiss. & Reut. - Lamiaceae - Algerian thyme, Algerischer Thymian

Endemic herb of North Africa, used as culinary herb and in folk medicine.

„Many species of Thymus have been widely used in Algerian folk medicine as astringent, expectorant and cicatrising agents. This study was designed to investigate for the first time the essential oil of the aerial parts of wild growing Thymus algeriensis endemic in North Africa. The volatile oil obtained by hydrodistillation was characterized by the physico-chemical properties, GC and GC/MS techniques. The yield of the oil was 1.13% (w/w), based on dry weight. Fifty-five components, representing 94.3% of the total oil, were identified. The oil was distinguished by its high content of oxygenated monoterpenes (79.5%) and was found to possess the following major components: linalool (47.3%), thymol (29.2%) and p-cymene (6.8%). Furthermore, the oil was tested for antimicrobial activity against four bacteria, two fungi and two yeasts. This oil exhibited a significant in vitro antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis (MIC = 0.5 μL/mL), as well as against all yeast and all filamentous fungi tested (MIC = 0.5 and 1.0 μL/mL).“
[Studies on the essential oil composition and antimicrobial activity of Thymus algeriensis Boiss. et Reut., Dob, T., et al., International Journal of Aromatherapy, Vol.16 (2), 2006, 95-100]

„T.algeriensis showed a chemical polymorphism, even for samples from the same location, and two new chemotypes for this species were proposed.“
[Chemical composition and biological activities of Algerian Thymus oils, M. Hazzit, A. Baaliouamer, A.R. Veríssimo, M.L. Faleiro, M.G. Miguel, Food Chemistry, Vol.116, 2009, 714-721]

„The major compounds at the species level were α-pinene (7.41-13.94%), 1,8-cineole (7.55-22.07%), cis-sabinene hydrate (0.10-12.95%), camphor (6.8-19.93%), 4-terpineol (1.55-11.86%), terpenyl acetate (0-14.92%) and viridiflorol (0-11.49%). Based on major compounds, the populations were represented by (α-pinene/1,8-cineole/cis-sabinene hydrate/camphor/viridiflorol), (1,8-cineole/camphor/terpenyl acetate), (α-pinene/1,8-cineole/camphor), (1,8-cineole/camphor/4-terpineol) and (α-pinene/1,8-cineole/cis-sabinene hydrate/camphor/4-terpineol) chemotypes.“
[Variation of chemical composition of essential oils in wild populations of Thymus algeriensis Boiss. et Reut., a North African endemic Species, Nacim Zouari, Imen Ayadi, Nahed Fakhfakh, Ahmed Rebai, Sami Zouari, Lipids in Health and Disease, Vol.11, 2012, 28]

„GC-MS analysis of T.algeriensis oil showed 45 compounds representing 99.64% of the total oil. Thymol was the main constituent (38.50%) followed by p-cymene, terpinene and bornyl acetate and borneol (8.91%, 7.19%, 7.03% and 6.07%, respectively).“
[Chemical composition, antimicrobial, antioxidant and antitumor activity of Thymus serpyllum L., Thymus algeriensis Boiss. and Reut and Thymus vulgaris L. essential oils. Miloš Nikolić et al., Industrial Crops and Products, Vol.52, 2014, 183–190]
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092666901300558X
https://bibliotecadigital.ipb.pt/bitstream/10198/9429/3/manuscript%20Thymus%20Nikolic.pdf

Thymus algeriensis Boiss. & Reut. (Lamiaceae) photo: Dobignard, A.
http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/details.php?langue=fr&id=145270