Determination of the chemical content of thymus fallax and thymus kotschyanus var. kotschyanus used as thyme, investigation of antimicrobial, antioxidant and antialzheimer activities

Aim: The genus Thymus is commonly used for food taste and odor purposes and is of medicinal and economic importance. The aim of this study was to investigate the chemical contents, antioxidant, anticholinesterase and antimicrobial activities of T. fallax and T. kotschyanus var. kotschyanus plants of Thymus genus which are known for their biological and pharmacological activities by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS. Material and Method: The content of phenolics by LC-MS / MS and essential oils by GC-MS of root and aerial parts of ethanol extracts of T. fallax and T. kotschyanus var. kotschyanus plants were determined. Total phenolic and flavonoit contents of all extracts were determined as pyrocatechol and quercetin equivalents, respectively. Antioxidant (β-carotene decolorisation, DPPH free, ABTS cation radical scavenging and Cuprac methods), anticholinesterase (acetyl- and butyryl-cholineterase methods) and antimicrobial activities (minimum inhibition concentration method) were determined. Results: T. fallax root extract has the highest total phenolic content, T. kotschyanus var. kotschyanus aerial part extract was found to have the highest total flavonoit content. It was determined that T. fallax aerial part extract in DPPH free radical scavenging method and root extract showed high activity in ABTS cation radical scavenging method. Aerial and root parts of Thymus kotschyanus var. kotschyanus were determined good antimicrobial activity against Candida tropicalis. According to GC/MS analysis, major components of T. kotschyanus var. kotschyanus were carvacrol (48.5%) and thymol (22.5%), while bicyclogermacrene (21.5%) and germacrene D (16.5%) were detected for T. fallax. According to LC-MS/MS analysis; quinic acid, rosmarinic acid and nicotiflorin compounds for T. fallax aerial and root extracts and T. kotschyanus var. kotschyanus aerial parts extracts, fumaric acid, quinic acid and caffeic acid were identified as major components for T. kotschyanus var. kotschyanus root extract,. Conclusion: It can be said that T. fallax has high antioxidant potential due to its high phenolic content. The anticholinesterase activity and chemical content of the plants by LC-MS / MS were studied for the first time in this thesis. Thus, the results obtained from the plant species whose chemical contents and activities mentioned above were introduced to the scientific World.