3 years ago
Thymol, thyme, and other plant sources: Health and potential uses
Thymol is a naturally occurring phenol monoterpene derivative of cymene and isomer
of carvacrol. Thymol (10–64%) is one of the major constituent of essential oils of
thyme (Thymus vulgaris L., Lamiaceae), a medicinal plant with several therapeutic properties. This plant,
native to Mediterranean regions, is commonly used as a culinary herb and also with
a long history of use for different medicinal purposes. Nowadays, thymol and thyme
present a wide range of functional possibilities in pharmacy, food, and cosmetic industry.
The interest in the formulation of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmeceuticals
based on thymol is due to several studies that have evaluated the potential therapeutic
uses of this compound for the treatment of disorders affecting the respiratory, nervous,
and cardiovascular systems. Moreover, this compound also exhibits antimicrobial, antioxidant,
anticarcinogenesis, anti‐inflammatory, and antispasmodic activities, as well as a
potential as a growth enhancer and immunomodulator. In the present review, these bioactivities
have been covered because some of them can contribute to explain the ethnopharmacology
of thymol and its main source, T. vulgaris. Other important aspects about thymol are discussed: its toxicity and bioavailability,
metabolism, and distribution in animals and humans.
Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ptr.6109
DOI: 10.1002/ptr.6109
You might also like
Never Miss Important Research
Researcher is an app designed by academics, for academics. Create a personalised feed in two minutes.
Choose from over 15,000 academics journals covering ten research areas then let Researcher deliver you papers tailored to your interests each day.
Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.