Acta Pharm. 48 (1998) 119-126
Essential oil composition of Thymus balcanus, T. ciliatopubescens and T. pseudo-atticus from Macedonia was examined by analytical GC and GC-MS technique. More than sixty peaks were separated in each of the oils. Thirty to forty peaks were identified which represented 81-87 % of the oils. The main components in T. balcanus essential oil were trans-caryophyllene (22.42%), beta-pinene (12.48%) and alfa-pinene (5.64%). Higher amount of e-citral has been found as well (4.95%). The main component in T. ciliatopubescens essential oil was 1,8-cineole (18.00%) followed by alfa-pinene (8.82%), camphene, linalool, camphor, trans-caryophyllene and beta-nerolidol. For T. pseudo-atticus, the most important constituents were exo- and endo-borneol (4.97 % and 14.86 %, respectively). In this oil, fraction of sesquiterpens was also high with trans-caryophyllene (10.45%), beta-cubebene (9.95%) and beta-nerolidol (4.44%) being the most abundant. These three taxa of genus Thymus in the flora of the Republic of Macedonia represented nonphenolic types of Thymus containing essential oils with trace amounts of phenols (thymol and carvacrol).
Keywords: Thymus, T. balcanus, T. ciliatopubescens, T. pseudo-atticus, essential oil, composition, GC and GC-MS