Thyme

Thymus vulgris – Common thyme, garden thyme
Lamiaceae, formerly Labiatae – Mint family

The part used in medicine is the thyme herb – Thymi herba and the thyme oil – Thymi oleum. It is harvested in June and July and dried in natural conditions or in drying rooms in max. 35° C.

Thyme – appearance and origin:

A prostrate shrub found in the Mediterranean and South America; grown in many countries across Europe and America, including Poland. A very changing species, which includes subspecies, strains and forms; the plant often mixes. The most popular forms are f. capitatus and f. verticillatus. It has a distinct thymol smell. It grows up to 20-40 cm, is branched, woody at the base. The leaves have short petioles or are sessile, linear-lanceolate, sometimes elliptic, green on the top, grey-green from the bottom. The flowers are pink-purple, small, embedded in pseudowhorls in leaf angles, short pedicels, form clusters. It blooms from May to September.

Thyme – effects and use:

The herb contains up to 2.5% of oil, flavonoids (derivatives of apigenin, luteolin, kaempferol, naringenin, taxifolin), around 3% tannins (mainly caffeic acid depsides), phenolic acids (acids: rosmarinic, caffeic, coumaric, syringic, sinapic, ferulic, protocatechuic, salicylic), tritepenes (ursolic and oleanolic acids), numerous sugars, and aluminum salts.

Thyme oil is obtained through steam distillation of thyme. It contains phenols: thymol (30-50%) and carvacrol (up to 5%), methyl ethers of thymol and carvacrol (up to 1.5%), monoterpenes: β-pinene, limonene, p-cymene, myrcene, α-terpinene, and terpene alcohols: linalool, borneol, 1.8-cineole, terpineol and esthers thereof. The oil components are variable and depend on the origin of the raw material.

The herb is an ingredient of many combinations meant for expectoration and disinfection, used in respiratory infections, especially bronchitis. It is also sometimes used for throat gargling, inhalations and hair rinses.

Thyme extracts have relaxant activity, due to their flavonoid content. However, high doses are toxic and may cause vomiting and nausea.

Thyme also acts as a bactericidal and fungicidal. It used for coughing, throat problems (cough, hoarseness), improving the appetite and digestion. It also has antioxidant properties.

Thyme oil is used for common colds, upper respiratory inflammation and oral inflammations. After it is taken orally, some oil components are expelled through the lungs, increasing the secretion of bronchial mucus and facilitating expectoration.

The oil is an ingredient of warming ointments, used for relieving rheumatic symptoms. It also has antipruritic and insect repellent properties. Isolated thymol, highly diluted, can inhibit the growth of bacteria causing abscess, and thymol solutions are used topically for infections caused by Herpes.