Chemical composition of Thymus migricus Klokov & Desj.-Shost. essential oil from different regions of West Azerbaijan province

Genus Thymus (Lamiaceae) consists of about 250 species. Fourteen species grow naturally in Iran of which four are endemic. Different species of Thymus are used as tonic, carminative, digestive, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, antitussive, expectorant and for the cold treatment in Iranian traditional medicine. Chemical composition of essential oil of T. migricus Klokov & Desj.-Shost., a species grows in northwest of Iran, has been investigated in this paper. The aerial parts were collected from Ghushchi, Nazloo and Band regions from West Azerbaijan province in the middle of May 2008. Then air-dried flowering stems of the plant were submitted to hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus according to the method recommended in British Pharmacopoeia. The essential oil was analyzed by combination of GC-FID and GC-MS. The total yields of oils based on dry weight were 1.5%, 1.7% and 1.4% (w/w) from Ghushchi, Nazloo and Band, respectively. Twenty, Eighteen and Twenty-one compounds were identified from Ghushchi, Nazloo and Band, respectively among which thymol (46.6-70.5%), γ-terpinene (6.2-16.7%) and p-cymene (4.0-6.2%) have been the three major and common constituents and also had high concentrations. With respect to high yield of essential oil and valuable phenolic compound in Nazloo specimen, it is suggested for medicinal applications.