Chemical composition, anti-fungal properties, anti-oxidant activity and cytotoxicity of Thymus daenensis Celak. essential oil

Thyme daenensis, scientifically known as Thymus daenensis Celak belongs to the Lamiaceae family. The aerial part of Thymus daenensis encompasses phenolic compounds and has powerful antifungal and antioxidant properties. Due to its potential to produce the secondary metabolites, it also has anti-mutation and anti-cancer properties. In this study, in order to investigate the phytochemicals, antioxidant, antifungal properties and also the cell cytotoxicity, the aerial parts of Thymus daenensis were collected from Zagheh area in Lorestan province Khorramabad, in June 2017. The chemical compounds of the essential oil were extracted using water distillation and analyzed using Chromatography (GC) and Gass Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Broth microdilution, MTT, and DPPH methods were utilized to determine the antifungal and antioxidant properties and cell cytotoxicity, respectively. In the essential oil, the most significant compounds were thymol (24.7%) and carvacrol (38.5%) and the Minimum inhibitory concentration against Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus niger were respectively 0.5 and 1 μg/ml. The radical inhibitory effect increased as the density of the essential oil increased (IC50=63/23). The MTT assay indicated that the impact of the essential oil cytotoxicity on human lymphocyte cells was insignificant. According to the results obtained, it can be concluded that the essential oil of Thymus daenensis, as one of Iran’s indigenous plants, has considerable antioxidant properties that have potential to be used in pharmaceutical industrieTs and act as a good candidate in the fungal diseases’ treatment.