Composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Thymus fontanesii

The yield of oil isolated by hydrodistillation from aerial parts of Thymus fontanesii Boiss. et Reut. (Lamiaceae) growing wild in Djelfa (Algeria) was 0.9%. Analysis of the oil by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) revealed the identification of 47 components accounting for 98.5% of the total oil. The oil was found to be rich in monoterpenes (91.5%) with major constituents being thymol (29.3%), γ-terpinene (21.7%), p-cymene (15.9%), and thymol methyl ether (11.4%), while a smaller amount of linalool (4.8%) and β-caryophyllene (2.9%) were detected. According to the antimicrobial study using the disk diffusion method and the agar dilution assay-minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), the oil showed strong in vitro growth inhibition activity against Gram-negative bacteria and antifungal activity. The oil exhibited the maximum antifungal activity against Mucor ramaniamus (MIC = 0.2 μL/mL). © 2006 Informa Healthcar