Effects of Cuts and Different Phenological Stages on Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities and Chemical Attributes of Garden Thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) Essential Oil

Abstract

Garden thyme is an aromatic plant with various applications in the pharmaceutical, food, and hygienic-cosmetic industries around the world. In this research, field-cultivated plants were harvested in two cuts and three consecutive stages (pre-flowering, flowering, and post-flowering). The essential oil percentage and compositions were identified in the essential oil samples. The antibacterial activity of the essential oil was measured against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The antioxidant activity, total phenol and flavonoid contents, chain-breaking activity, and IC50 were recorded. The highest essential oil percentage (2.56%) was obtained from the pre-flowering stage. The results of GC/MS revealed that p-cymene, γ-terpinene, thymol, and carvacrol were the most important constituents of the studied essential oil. The lowest antibacterial activity was recorded by the second cut at the pre-flowering stage. The highest antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus were recorded by the second cut during the flowering stage and the first cut during the flowering stage, respectively. The lowest MIC was 15.75 μg mL-1 related to the second cut during the flowering stage. The plants had the highest total phenol (16.64 mg GAE g-1 DM) and total flavonoid contents (2.88 mg QE g-1 DM) at the pre-flowering stage. The highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 134.05 μg mL-1) was observed at the pre-flowering stage. It can be said that phenological stages and cuts can affect essential oil antibacterial and antioxidant activities, as well as its chemical characteristics.

Keywords

• Antibacterial activity
• Antioxidant activity
• Cut
• Essential oil
• Garden thyme
• Phenological periods

Kesimlerin ve Farklı Fenolojik Aşamaların Bahçe Kekiği (Thymus vulgaris L.) Uçucu Yağının Antibakteriyel ve Antioksidan Aktiviteleri ve Kimyasal Özellikleri Üzerine Etkileri

Öz

Bahçe kekiği, dünya çapında ilaç, gıda ve hijyenik-kozmetik endüstrilerinde çeşitli uygulamalara sahip aromatik bir bitkidir. Bu araştırmada, tarlada yetiştirilen bitkiler iki kesimde ve birbirini takip eden üç aşamada (çiçeklenme öncesi, çiçeklenme ve çiçeklenme sonrası) hasat edilmiştir. Uçucu yağ örneklerinde uçucu yağ yüzdesi ve bileşimleri belirlendi. Uçucu yağın antibakteriyel aktivitesi Escherichia coli ve Staphylococcus aureus'a karşı ölçülmüştür. Antioksidan aktivite, toplam fenol ve flavonoid içerikleri, zincir kırma aktivitesi ve IC50 kaydedildi. En yüksek uçucu yağ yüzdesi (%2.56) çiçeklenme öncesi dönemden elde edilmiştir. GC/MS sonuçları, çalışılan uçucu yağın en önemli bileşenlerinin p-cymene, γ-terpinen, timol ve karvakrol olduğunu ortaya koydu. En düşük antibakteriyel aktivite, çiçeklenme öncesi aşamadaki ikinci kesimde kaydedilmiştir. E. coli ve S. aureus'a karşı en yüksek antibakteriyel aktivite, sırasıyla çiçeklenme döneminde ikinci kesimde ve çiçeklenme döneminde ilk kesimde kaydedilmiştir. En düşük MIC, çiçeklenme döneminde ikinci kesime bağlı olarak 15.75 μg mL-1 idi. Bitkiler, çiçeklenme öncesi aşamada en yüksek toplam fenol (16.64 mg GAE g-1 DM) ve toplam flavonoid içeriğine (2.88 mg QE g-1 DM) sahipti. En yüksek antioksidan aktivite (IC50 = 134.05 μg mL-1) çiçeklenme öncesi aşamada gözlenmiştir. Fenolojik aşamaların ve kesimlerin uçucu yağın kimyasal özelliklerinin yanı sıra antibakteriyel ve antioksidan aktivitelerini de etkileyebileceği söylenebilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Antibakteriyel aktivite
• Antioksidan aktivite
• Kesmek
• Esans
• Bahçe kekiği
• Fenolojik dönemler.

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