ANTI-MICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF THYME ESSENTIAL OIL (Thymus vulgaris L.)

Abstract

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) is marketed primarily for its leaves and the extraction of its essential oil (EO), composed mainly by monoterpenes (thymol, carvacrol and linalool, y-terpinene, p-Cymene, a-Pinen, and a-Tujuene). Various properties of the EO are known, such as its antitumor, antibacterial, antifungus and antioxidant activities. The effect on the yield, composition and antibacterial activity of the thyme essential oil of applying a commercial phytoregulator, and inoculating with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria and arbuscular mycorrhyzic fungi was evaluated, finding that the highest yield was recorded with the P61 treatment with 13.3 mg EO g^-1 MS. It was observed that the number of components and the percentage present in the EO are different in each treatment. The treatment that presented highest thymol concentration was the control (52.55 %), followed by the treatment inoculated with P61 (51.05 %) and Zac19+Cedar (50.66%). For p-Cymene, the treatment inoculated with Zac19 (21.79) presents the highest concentration, followed by Zac19+Cedar and Bioforte with 20.38% and 19.37%, respectively. Regarding the concentration of y-terpinene, cedar and P61 showed a better response, with 17.91 and 17.84%, respectively. The T. vulgaris oils showed antibacterial activity against E. coli, in a concentration of 50 %, corresponding to plants inoculated with P61 which demonstrated a larger inhibition diameter.