%0 Journal Article
%T Variation of chemical composition of essential oils in wild populations of Thymus algeriensis Boiss. et Reut., a North African endemic Species
%A Nacim Zouari
%A Imen Ayadi
%A Nahed Fakhfakh
%A Ahmed Rebai
%A Sami Zouari
%J Lipids in Health and Disease
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1476-511x-11-28
%X The essential oil composition of Thymus algeriensis was determined mainly by GC/FID and GC/MS. The chemical differentiation among populations performed on all compounds was assessed by linear discriminate analysis and cluster analysis based on Euclidean distance.A total of 71 compounds, representing 88.99 to 99.76% of the total oil, were identified. A significant effect of the population location on the chemical composition variability of T. algeriensis oil was observed. Only 18 out of 71 compounds showed a statistically significant variation among population locations and phenological stages. Chemical differentiation among populations was high. Minor compounds play an important role to distinguish between chemical groups. Five chemotypes according to the major compounds have been distinguished. Chemotypes distribution is linked to the population location and not to bioclimate, indicating that local selective environmental factors acted on the chemotype diversity.The major compounds at the species level were ¦Á-pinene (7.41-13.94%), 1,8-cineole (7.55-22.07%), cis-sabinene hydrate (0.10-12.95%), camphor (6.8-19.93%), 4-terpineol (1.55-11.86%), terpenyl acetate (0-14.92%) and viridiflorol (0-11.49%). Based on major compounds, the populations were represented by (¦Á-pinene/1,8-cineole/cis-sabinene hydrate/camphor/viridiflorol), (1,8-cineole/camphor/terpenyl acetate), (¦Á-pinene/1,8-cineole/camphor), (1,8-cineole/camphor/4-terpineol) and (¦Á-pinene/1,8-cineole/cis-sabinene hydrate/camphor/4-terpineol) chemotypes. Variation of phenological stage did not have a statistically significant effect on the yield and metal chelating activity of the essential oil. These results can be used to investigate the geographical location and the harvesting time of this plant for relevant industries.In the last few years, there has been an increasing concern regarding the safety and potentially adverse effects of synthetic chemicals used for food preservation or in medicine. Therefore, the co
%K Thymus algeriensis
%K Biodiversity
%K Essential oil
%K Chemical composition
%K Discriminant analysis
%U http://www.lipidworld.com/content/11/1/28