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Antioxidant Effect of Essential Oil Isolated from Wild Thyme (Thymus serpyllum L.)

Widely used artificial antioxidants, such as butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) are very effective in their role as antioxidants. However, their use in food products has been failing off due to their instability, as well as due to a suspected action as promoters of carcinogenesis. For this reason, there is a growing interest in the studies of natural additives as potential antioxidants. The antioxidant properties of many aromatic herbs are reported to be effective in this role. The previous studies of antioxidant activity of essential oils rich in thymol and carvacrol showed a considerable antioxidant effect on the process of lard oxidation. As a part of an investigation of natural antioxidants from Dalmatian aromatic plants, in this rapport we reported a study of antioxidant activity of wild thyme volatile compounds. Wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum L.)is an aromatic plant, which has been frequently used as a local spice and as a traditional medicinal herb. Wild thyme tea, either drunk by itself or mixed with other plants such as rosemary, etc., is an excellent remedy for headache and other nervous affections. The antioxidant power was examined using the DPPH radical scavenging and a-carotene bleaching method. In comparison with BHT and BHA, the wild thyme essential oil demonstrated high antioxidant effect.

Thymus serpyllum L.; antioxidants; thymol

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