Biochemical Studies on the Essential Oils of some Medicinal Plants

Abstract

Some physical and chemical constants and chemical composition of the essential oils of three Egyptian plants namely thyme, rosemary and sage belonging to the Labiteae family were determined. Gas‐liquid chromatographic analysis of thyme, rosemary and sage essential oils indicated the presence of 13, 12 and 8 compounds representing 63.75%, 82.44% and 99% of the total volatile substances, respectively. The most prevalent volatile compounds of thyme, rosemary and sage oils were thymol, α‐pinene and thujone, respectively. The anti‐microbial examination for these oils against some micro‐organisms showed that thyme oil had the greatest effect followed by sage and rosemary oils.

Influence of Some Spice Essential Oils on Aspergillus Parasiticus Growth and Production of Aflatoxins in a Synthetic Medium

“…Sage oil had the highest concentration of thujone and limonene. These results were in accordance with other reports (Farag et al, 1986b;Merory, 1960).…”

Antioxidant activity of essential oils from various spices

“…These compounds are non-volatile and are not present in the essential oil from rosemary, which explains its weaker antioxidant properties. The antioxidant effect of the essential oil from rosemary was discussed by Svoboda [4], Farag et al [13] and Dorman et al [14]. Furthermore, some difference was found between the essential oils from ginger obtained by hexane extraction and by steam distillation.…”

Composition and niticidal activity of essential oils of three chemotypes of Rosmarinus officinalis L. acclimatized in Morocco

“…13,14 These works have shown a constant qualitative composition and a large quantitative variations of some constituents of the essential oils (α-pinene, 8-36%; myrcene, 1-20%; 1,8-cineole, 5-57%; and camphor, 3-16%). On the other hand, α-pinene compound represents the major constituent of the Rabat chemotype (34.0%); and successively of others from Egypt (36.4%), Italy (28.9%), Spain (24.7%) and France (35.0%), [14][15][16][17] whereas 1,8-cineole is the main component in both oils from chemotypes 2 and 3 (40.0-50.0%) as in seven other local regions (Aouam, Aboul, Layrin, Karma, Ouizaat, Safiat 1 and Safiat 2; 43.5-57.7%).…”