Determination of antioxidant activities of various extracts and essential oil compositions of Thymus praecox subsp. skorpilii var. skorpilii

Özen T., Demirtas İ., AKŞİT H.

Food Chemistry, vol.124, no.1, pp.58-64, 2011 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 124 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2011
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.05.103
  • Journal Name: Food Chemistry
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.58-64
  • Keywords: Antioxidant activity, Essential oils, Thymus praecox subsp. skorpilii var. skorpilii
  • Ondokuz Mayıs University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The aim of this work is to examine the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of separated essential oils and different solvent extracts of Thymus praecox subsp. skorpilii var. skorpilii (TPS). The ethanol, acetone, methanol, hexane, aqueous extracts and separated essential oils of TPS were assessed for their antioxidant activities. Antioxidant activities were evaluated by reduction of Mo(VI) to Mo(V), reducing power, superoxide scavenging activity, free radical-scavenging activity, metal chelating activity, linoleic acid peroxidation, hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity and peroxide scavenging activity. Essential oils were characterized in total to be 41 components, whereas 9 components were isolated by column chromatography for antioxidant activity. TPS essential oil was found to contain thymol (40.31%) and o-cymene (13.66%) as the major components. The ethanol, methanol and water extracts exerted significant free radical-scavenging activity. The methanol and water extracts displayed highest superoxide scavenging activity. The water extract has the highest total phenolics (6.211. mg gallic acid (GAE)/g DW) and flavonoids (0.809. mg quercetin/g DW). © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.