Thymol and carvacrol production from leaves of wild Palestinian Majorana syriaca.

Majorana syriaca (Zaatar in Arabic), belonging to the mint family, Labiates, is cultivated widely and grows wild in the mountains of Palestine between the months April to August. In order to determine the secondary metabolites from wild leaves of Palestinian M. syriaca, comparative analysis by static headspace (HS) and steam distillation (SD) GC-MS was used.

Natural compounds of Palestine flora. Comparison analysis by static headspace and steam distillation GC-MS of semivolatile secondary metabolites from leaves of cultivated Palestinian Majorana syriaca.

Background: A comparative analysis by using static headspace (HS) and steam distillation (SD) GC-MS of the volatile and the semi-volatile secondary metabolites from leaves of cultivated Majorana syriaca.

Methods: The essential oils endogenous to cultivated thyme were isolated and identified by HS-GC-MS technology and compared to those from SD-GC-MS.

Results: The HS-GC-MS results showed that the Palestinian cultivated thyme is rich in monoterpene hydrocarbons and phenolic monoterpenes such as alpha-phellandrene, alpha-pinene, beta-myrcene, m-cymene, p-cymene, gamma-terpinene, thymol and carvacrol.