Planta Medica International Open 2017; 4(S 01): S1-S202
DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1608272
Poster Session
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

The effect of the extraction method in Thymus carnosus Boiss. polyphenolic profile

C Martins-Gomes
1   Chemistry Centre, Vila Real (CQ-VR), UTAD, Quinta de Prados, Vila Real, Portugal
2   Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal
,
M Taghouti
1   Chemistry Centre, Vila Real (CQ-VR), UTAD, Quinta de Prados, Vila Real, Portugal
2   Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal
,
J Schäfer
3   Department of Food Chemistry and Phytochemistry, Institute of Applied Biosciences, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
,
M Bunzel
3   Department of Food Chemistry and Phytochemistry, Institute of Applied Biosciences, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
,
AM Silva
2   Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal
,
FM Nunes
1   Chemistry Centre, Vila Real (CQ-VR), UTAD, Quinta de Prados, Vila Real, Portugal
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
24 October 2017 (online)

 

Due to small occurrence of Thymus carnosus Boiss. in wild, it is considered a near threatened species. Apart from some individuals growing in botanical gardens, it can only be found in Portuguese south and southwest shore, and in Huelva, Spain. Only the essential oils of this species were analysed in previous works, with borneol being the main component, followed by camphene and terpinen-4-ol. The polyphenolic composition is still unknown, being the purpose of this work to identify and quantify the polyphenols in this thyme.

Plants were harvested in UTAD botanical garden, in flowering stage, lyophilised and grounded. Then, two extraction methods were chosen: decoction, and repeated hydroethanolic extraction (HE), aiming to extract all extractable polyphenols. Extracts were frozen and lyophilised. Extract yield was higher in HE (24.67 ± 0.58%) than in decoction (21.24 ± 1.57%). Total phenols, flavonoids and ortho-diphenols were quantified. Although there were no significant differences in total phenols, the flavonoids and ortho-diphenols content was higher in HE than in decoctions.

The extracts were analysed by HPLC-DAD and HPLC-ESI-MSn to assess their polyphenolic composition. Phenolic acids, as rosmarinic and caffeic acids, and derivatives of some flavonoids, as eriodyctiol, quercetin, luteolin and apigenin, were found in both extracts and are commonly found in Thymus genus. The three main components of the extracts were rosmarinic acid, a salvianolic acid A isomer and salvianolic acid K, these two salvianolic acids are rarely described in thyme species. Salvianolic acid A, ursolic acid and salvianic acid A were also identified but are present in lower concentrations. Their quantification revealed significant differences between extraction methods, with HE as the best method, extracting the highest amount of polyphenols.

UTAD Botanical Garden, FCT (grant to M.T.; PD/BD/52563/2014); INTERACT-project-NORTE-01 – 0145-FEDER-000017, in its research line entitled ISAC, co-financed by ERDF through NORTE2020.