<i>Ex Vivo</i> Absorption of Thymol and Thymol-β‑d‑glucopyranoside in Piglet Everted Jejunal Segments

Food-producing animals are reservoirs of <i>Campylobacter</i>, a leading bacterial cause of human foodborne illness. The natural product thymol can reduce the survivability of <i>Campylobacter</i>, but its rapid absorption in the proximal gastrointestinal tract may preclude its use as a feed additive to reduce intestinal colonization of these pathogens. This work examined the <i>ex vivo</i> absorption of thymol and thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside in everted porcine jejunal segments, as the latter was hypothesized to be more resistant to absorption. A modified gas chromatography and extraction method was developed to determine 1.0–500 mg/L thymol. From 1 and 3 mM solutions, 0.293 ± 0.04 and 0.898 ± 0.212 mM thymol, respectively, <i>p</i> = 0.0347, were absorbed, and 0.125 ± 0.041 and 0.317 ± 0.143 mM thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside, respectively, <i>p</i> = 0.0892, were absorbed. Results indicate that thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside was absorbed 2.3 to 2.8 times less effectively than thymol, thus providing evidence that thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside may potentially be used as a feed additive to transport thymol to the piglet lower gut