Antifungal activity of chemically different essential oils from wild Tunisian <i>Thymus</i> spp.

<div><p>Essential oils isolated by using hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of <i>Thymus algeriensis</i> and <i>Thymus capitatus</i> Hoff. et Link. from different locations of Tunisia (Kef, Takelsa, Zaghouan, Fahs and Toukeber) were characterised. The chemical composition was analysed by using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, the major component of <i>T. capitatus</i> from Kef and <i>T. algeriens</i>is was thymol while carvacrol was the main component of <i>T. capitatus</i> from Zaghouan, Fahs and Toukeber. The antifungal activity of the oils and some pure components was assessed by the <i>in vitro</i> assay against several fungi and oomycetes<i>. T. capitatus</i> (chemotype carvacrol) exhibited the strongest antifungal activity followed by <i>T. capitatus</i> (chemotype thymol) and <i>T. algeriensis</i>, indicating that carvacrol might have a stronger antifungal activity than thymol.</p>