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3042334 
Journal Article 
Thymus vulgaris essential oil: chemical composition and antimicrobial activity 
Borugă, O; Jianu, C; Mişcă, C; Goleţ, I; Gruia, AT; Horhat, FG 
2014 
7 Spec No. 3 
56-60 
English 
25870697 
The study was designed to determine the chemical composition and antimicrobial properties of the essential oil of Thymus vulgaris cultivated in Romania. The essential oil was isolated in a yield of 1.25% by steam distillation from the aerial part of the plant and subsequently analyzed by GC-MS. The major components were p-cymene (8.41%), γ-terpinene (30.90%) and thymol (47.59%). Its antimicrobial activity was evaluated on 7 common food-related bacteria and fungus by using the disk diffusion method. The results demonstrate that the Thymus vulgaris essential oil tested possesses strong antimicrobial properties, and may in the future represent a new source of natural antiseptics with applications in the pharmaceutical and food industry.