Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar:84:105954.
doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2022.105954. Epub 2022 Feb 16.

Optimized ultrasound-assisted extraction of phenolic compounds from Thymus comosus Heuff. ex Griseb. et Schenk (wild thyme) and their bioactive potential

Mihai Babotă  1 , Oleg Frumuzachi  1 , Alexandru Gâvan  2 , Cristian Iacoviță  3 , José Pinela  4 , Lillian Barros  4 , Isabel C F R Ferreira  4 , Leilei Zhang  5 , Luigi Lucini  5 , Gabriele Rocchetti  6 , Corneliu Tanase  7 , Gianina Crișan  1 , Andrei Mocan  8
Affiliations

Optimized ultrasound-assisted extraction of phenolic compounds from Thymus comosus Heuff. ex Griseb. et Schenk (wild thyme) and their bioactive potential

Mihai Babotă et al. Ultrason Sonochem. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

An optimized ultrasound-assisted extractive method was developed to obtain a polyphenol-enriched extract from the aerial parts of Thymus comosus Heuff. ex Griseb. et Schenk. Optimization process was conducted based on Design of Experiment (DoE) principles, determining the influence of three independent variables (time, ultrasound amplitude, ethanol concentration) on the total phenolic content of the extract (dependent variable). Additionally, the phenolic composition of the extract was characterized through UHPLC-HRMS, revealing beside the most abundant flavonoid-type compounds the presence of salvianolic acids C, D and L in high amounts. Phytochemical profile of the extract was correlated with its antioxidant activity (tested through five complementary assays) and enzyme-inhibitory potential, showing important antiglucosidase and anticholinesterase effects. Overall, it was concluded that the developed method is suitable for obtaining a good recovery of both phenolic and non-phenolic compounds from Thymus comosus aerial parts, and their presence in the optimized extract is responsible for its pharmacological potential.

Keywords: Design of Experiments; Optimisation; Phenolic compounds; Thymus comosus Heuff. ex Griseb. et Schenk; Ultrasound-assisted extraction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Thymus comosus Heuff. ex Griseb. et Schenk.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Graphical transposition of the DoE matrix.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Scaled and centered coefficient plot of the process parameter influence.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Response surface plot illustrating solvent influence on the UAE developed method.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Design space and prediction of failure for TPC.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Correlogram considering the significant phenolic classes and the bioactivity values measured.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Tohidi B., Rahimmalek M., Trindade H. Review on essential oil, extracts composition, molecular and phytochemical properties of Thymus species in Iran. Ind. Crops Prod. 2019;134:89–99. doi: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2019.02.038. - DOI
    1. Li X., He T., Wang X., Shen M., Yan X., Fan S., Wang L., Wang X., Xu X., Sui H., She G. REVIEW Traditional uses, chemical constituents and biological activities of plants from the Genus Thymus. Chem. Biodivers. 2019 doi: 10.1002/cbdv.201900254. - DOI - PubMed
    1. EMA, Assessment report on Thymus vulgaris L., Thymus zygis L., herba, 2013. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/herbal-report/final-assessment-re....
    1. Thyme (Thymi Herba), Ph.Eur 9.0. 3 (2017) 1638–1639.
    1. I. Boz, I. Burzo, M. Zamfirache, R. Efrose, Essential oils of Thymus comosus Heuff. ex Griseb. et Schenk from different areas of Romania, Analele Științifice Ale Univ., Al. I. Cuza” Iași s II a. Biol. Veg. (2014) 40–45.

LinkOut - more resources