Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of essential oils of Thymus broussonetii Boiss. and Thymus algeriensis Boiss. from Morocco

International audience Objective: To characterize the chemical composition of the aerial part essential oil of Thymus broussonetii (T. broussonetii) Boiss. and Thymus algeriensis (T. algeriensis) Boiss. from Morocco. Methods: The essential oil used in this study was isolated by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus according to the European Pharmacopoeia. The chemical composition was investigated by using gas chromatography-retention indices ans gas chromatography mass spectrography. Results: The main compounds of T. brousonetii oil were borneol (27.6%), p-cymene (20.9%) and carvacrol (15.7%). The T. algeriensis oil was dominated by borneol (18.3%) followed by camphene (11,8%), camphre (10,0%) and myrcene (8,6%). The present work was also conducted to evaluate antioxidant ativityof essential oil using a DPPH test system. The results showed that T. broussonetii oil exhibited higher antioxidant activity than the T. algeriensis oil (IC50 value: 90 μg/ mL and 1800 μg/mL, respectively). Conclusions: These results suggest that the essential oil of T. broussonetii Boiss. and T. algeriensis Boiss. from Morocco may be a new potential source as a natural antioxidant.