Faleiro M L, Miguel M G, Ladeiro F, Venâncio F, Tavares R, Brito J C, Figueiredo A C, Barroso J G, Pedro L G
Faculdade de Engenharia de Recursos Naturais, Universidade do Algarve, Faro and INETI, IBQTA, Departamento de Tecnologia das Indústrias Químicas, Lisboa and Centro de Biotecnologia Vegetal, FCL, Lisboa, Portugal.
Lett Appl Microbiol. 2003;36(1):35-40. doi: 10.1046/j.1472-765x.2003.01259.x.
Thymus species are wild species mostly found in the arid lands of Portugal. Possible antimicrobial properties of Thymus essential oils have been investigated. The chemical composition of the essential oils and the antimicrobial activity of Thymus mastichina (L) L. subsp. mastichina, T. camphoratus and T. lotocephalus from different regions of Portugal were analysed.
Hydrodistillation was used to isolate the essential oils and the chemical analyses were performed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC coupled to mass spectrometry. The antimicrobial activity was tested by the disc agar diffusion technique against Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Proteus mirabilis, Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. Pure linalool, 1,8-cineole and a mixture (1 : 1) of these compounds were included. Linalool, 1,8-cineole or linalool/1,8-cineole and linalool/1,8-cineole/linalyl acetate were the major components of the essential oils, depending on the species or sampling place. The essential oils isolated from the Thymus species studied demonstrated antimicrobial activity but the micro-organisms tested had significantly different sensitivities.
The antimicrobial activity of essential oils may be related to more than one component.
Portuguese endemic species of Thymus can be used for essential oil production for food spoilage control, cosmetics and pharmaceutical use. Further studies will be required to elucidate the cell targets of the essential oil components.
百里香属植物是主要生长在葡萄牙干旱地区的野生植物。人们已经对百里香属植物精油可能具有的抗菌特性进行了研究。分析了来自葡萄牙不同地区的乳香百里香（L）L.亚种乳香百里香、樟脑百里香和多头百里香精油的化学成分及其抗菌活性。
采用水蒸馏法分离精油，并通过气相色谱（GC）和气相色谱 - 质谱联用进行化学分析。采用纸片琼脂扩散法测试其对白色念珠菌、大肠杆菌、单核细胞增生李斯特菌、奇异变形杆菌、沙门氏菌属和金黄色葡萄球菌的抗菌活性。加入了纯芳樟醇、1,8 - 桉叶素以及这两种化合物的混合物（1:1）。根据物种或采样地点的不同，芳樟醇、1,8 - 桉叶素或芳樟醇/1,8 - 桉叶素以及芳樟醇/桉叶素/乙酸芳樟酯是精油的主要成分。从所研究的百里香属植物中分离出的精油具有抗菌活性，但所测试的微生物对其敏感性存在显著差异。
精油的抗菌活性可能与多种成分有关。
葡萄牙特有的百里香属植物可用于生产用于控制食品腐败、化妆品和制药用途的精油。需要进一步研究以阐明精油成分的细胞靶点。
