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The composition of the essential oils of Origanum and Thymus species restricted to Algeria and the North Africa region was determined. Antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the isolated essential oils were also determined. The oils of oregano plants were strongly characterized by p-cymene (16.8-24.9%), gamma-terpinene (16.8-24.9%), thymol (8.4-36.0%), and carvacrol (1.1-29.7%), a thymol chemotype for Origanum floribundum and a alpha-terpineol chemotype for Thymus numidicus being described for the first time. The strains of Listeria monocytogenes tested were relatively resistant to the action of essential oils of either Origanum or Thymus species. All essential oils possessed antioxidant activity, but this was dependent on the specific chemical composition and the method employed to determine such activity.

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Extraction of essential oil from Nigella sativa seed collected at two locations in the Sahara desert, Timimoun (T) and Adrar (A), has been conducted by hydrodistillation (HD) and a microwave distillation process (MD). The composition of the volatile oil was investigated by capillary gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Using the hydrodistillation, active compounds such as p-cymene (8.9 and 7.2% in T and A, respectively), 4-terpineol (0.6-8.9%), thymohydroquinone (6.1-12.2%), thymoquinone (1.6-21.8%), carvacrol (12.9-12.9%), carvone (4.4-0.3%) and thymol (1.5-0.7%) were the major components, representing more than 36% (T) and 64% (A) of the oils. For the microwave distillation, p-cymene (28.1% and 32.0% in T and A, respectively), 4-terpineol (3.4-2.0%), thymohydroquinone (0.7-1.1%), thymoquinone (10.8-24.6%), carvacrol (3.0-6.0%), and thymol (0.3-0.3%) represent respectively 46.1% and 66.0% of the T and A oils.

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