Chemical composition of the essential oil of creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum s.l.) growing wild in Lithuania

Abstract

The results on the chemical composition of the essential oils hydrodistilled from three forms of T. serpyllum growing wild in the Curonian Spit (west of Lithuania) are presented in this study. GC and GC/MS results of volatile oils show that the analysed plants can be defined as a specific chemotype within the Serpyllum section, which can be characterised by a high content of 1,8-cineole (16.3-19.0%) in the essential oil. In addition, one form of the plants with white-coloured blossoms was exceptionally rich in E-carvyl acetate (18.7%). Phenolic compounds, thymol and carvacol, were not detected in the T. serpyllum plants analysed, which is a characteristic feature of the Serpyllum species growing in the Northern European countries.