Thyme

Thyme, Thymus vulgaris L., is a perennial shrub native to the Mediterranean region. The leaves are narrow, greyish green and only about 0.5 cm long. It belongs to the Lamiaceae family.

Two types of thyme oil are recognised commercially - red and white. The former is the natural distillate, obtained by steam distillation of the flowering plants; the latter is a redistilled red thyme oil; although compounded oils are frequently offered under this title, namely Spanish origanum oil.

Red thyme oil has a string, characteristic, spicy-phenolic odour and a sharp, lasting taste. The main constituents of this oil are thymol and carvacrol (up to 70%), cymene, terpinene, camphene, borneol, linalool; depending on the source, it can also contain geraniol, citral, thuyanol, etc.

Thymol

Thyme oil is used mainly for flavouring foods and oral hygiene products, but also used in perfumery to create spicy, leathery notes. Because of its high phenol content, thyme oil has germicidal and antiseptic properties.

Thyme oleoresin is a green to brownish-green semisolid, pasty oleoresin which becomes fluid when warmed to 50ºC. The prime oleoresin contains about 10% of volatile oil but most commercial products are admixed with distilled oil to give a much higher content.