STUDY OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF A SPANISH THYMUS-VULGARIS L. PLANT

The yield and composition of the dichloromethane extracts of leaves, f lowers and stems of Thymus vulgaris L. growing in northeastern Spain h ave been studied. The yield obtained from leaves and flowers is much h igher than that obtained from stems. This plant has a chemotype differ ent from those previously known for Thymus vulgaris L. The fraction of the dichloromethane extract from leaves and flowers, studied by gas c hromatography/mass spectrometry, shows that these tissues have higher concentrations of terpene hydrocarbons, oxygen terpene derivatives, se squiterpene hydrocarbons, oxygen sesquiterpene derivatives, saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons and phytosterol derivatives than the stems. How ever, aldehydes with large number of carbon atoms have been found in h igher concentrations in stems than in flowers and leaves. These extrac ts from different parts of Thymus vulgaris it. also show the presence of a large number of flavonoids and vitamin E, compounds of great inte rest in food industry for their antioxidant activity. Leaves and flowe rs of this plant are of interest as flavourings, as well as being natu ral antioxidants for the food industry. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.