Extract analyses of Satureja thymbra L. and Thymbra spicata L. aromatic plants of the Holy Land and the Sinai. XVII

The extracts from individual specimens of Satureja thymbra L. and Thymbra spicata L. were analyzed in detail by GC and GC/MS. This study confirms the existence of thymol- and carvacrol-containing chemotypes of both species, which have been found to grow in rather small and compositionally segregated populations. With the exception of the thymol/carvacrol ratio, the volatile constituent compositions of both species were found to be very similar. In addition to the biosynthetically interrelated thymol, carvacrol, gamma-terpinene and p-cymene, the other major volatiles of both species were beta-caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, thymohydroquinone and thymoquinone.