Md. Guillen et Mj. Manzanos, STUDY OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF A SPANISH THYMUS-VULGARIS L. PLANT, Food chemistry, 63(3), 1998, pp. 373-383
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.
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