INVESTIGATION ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE ESSENTIAL OF THYMUS DAENENSIS CELAK FROM FOUR DIFFERENT REGIONS OF ISFAHAN PROVINCE

Background: Thymus species are of very important medicinal plants which are being used very much. The properties of essential oils of various Thymus species are related to Thymol and Carvacrol. Essential oils of the leaves and flowers of Thymus have antispasm, antiflatulence, anti rheumatism effects and are strong disinfectants. In pharmaceutics their essential oils are used for preparation of mouth washing solutions and anticough syrups. Objective: The purpose of this research is an investigation on the essential oils composition of Thymus daenensis Celak from four locations of Isfahan province in order to identify the most premium essential oil. Methods: The aerial parts of Thymus daenensis Celak in the flowering stage were collected in Aug. 2004 from Isfahan, Golpayegan, Samirom and Daran in Isfahan province of Iran and after drying at room temperature, were hydrodistilled for 2 h using a Clevenger-type apparatus.The essential oils were analysed by GC and GC/MS. Results: Essential oils were produced at the yields of 3.4% (Isfahan), 3.9% (Golpayegan), 3.05% (Samirom) and 3.2% (Daran), respectively. Twenty-seven compounds were identified among which thymol (51.3%-78.3%), p-cymene (2.7%-7.6%), γ-terpinene (2.7%-10.1%), carvacrol (2.0%-9.2%) and β-caryophyllene (2.4%-4.3%) were the major constituents, respectively. Conclusion: Samirom sample has the most effective properties of essential oil although it has the lowest yield.In the other hand Golpayegan sample has the highest yield of essential oil in spite of it’s lowest essential oil properties.So if it is desired to obtain the highest yield, the Golpayegan sample is the best one and if it is desired to produce the essential oil with the most effective properties, the Samirom sample is the best one.