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A Focused Insight into Thyme: Biological, Chemical, and Therapeutic Properties of an Indigenous Mediterranean Herb
A perennial wild shrub from the Lamiaceae family and native to the Mediterranean region, thyme is considered an important wild edible plant studied for centuries for its unique importance in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industry. Thyme is loaded with phytonutrients, minerals and vitamins....
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9147557/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35631245 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14102104 |
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author | Hammoudi Halat, Dalal Krayem, Maha Khaled, Sanaa Younes, Samar |
author_facet | Hammoudi Halat, Dalal Krayem, Maha Khaled, Sanaa Younes, Samar |
author_sort | Hammoudi Halat, Dalal |
collection | PubMed |
description | A perennial wild shrub from the Lamiaceae family and native to the Mediterranean region, thyme is considered an important wild edible plant studied for centuries for its unique importance in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industry. Thyme is loaded with phytonutrients, minerals and vitamins. It is pungent in taste, yet rich in moisture, proteins, crude fiber, minerals and vitamins. Its chemical composition may vary with geographical location but is mainly composed of flavonoids and antioxidants. Previous studies have illustrated the therapeutic effects of thyme and its essential oils, especially thymol and carvacrol, against various diseases. This is attributed to its multi-pharmacological properties that include, but are not limited to, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antineoplastic actions. Moreover, thyme has long been known for its antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic activities, in addition to remarkable disruption of microbial biofilms. In the COVID-19 era, some thyme constituents were investigated for their potential in viral binding. As such, thyme presents a wide range of functional possibilities in food, drugs, and other fields and prominent interest as a nutraceutical. The aims of the current review are to present botanical and nutritive values of this herb, elaborate its major constituents, and review available literature on its dietetic and biological activities. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9147557 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-91475572022-05-29 A Focused Insight into Thyme: Biological, Chemical, and Therapeutic Properties of an Indigenous Mediterranean Herb Hammoudi Halat, Dalal Krayem, Maha Khaled, Sanaa Younes, Samar Nutrients Review A perennial wild shrub from the Lamiaceae family and native to the Mediterranean region, thyme is considered an important wild edible plant studied for centuries for its unique importance in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industry. Thyme is loaded with phytonutrients, minerals and vitamins. It is pungent in taste, yet rich in moisture, proteins, crude fiber, minerals and vitamins. Its chemical composition may vary with geographical location but is mainly composed of flavonoids and antioxidants. Previous studies have illustrated the therapeutic effects of thyme and its essential oils, especially thymol and carvacrol, against various diseases. This is attributed to its multi-pharmacological properties that include, but are not limited to, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antineoplastic actions. Moreover, thyme has long been known for its antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic activities, in addition to remarkable disruption of microbial biofilms. In the COVID-19 era, some thyme constituents were investigated for their potential in viral binding. As such, thyme presents a wide range of functional possibilities in food, drugs, and other fields and prominent interest as a nutraceutical. The aims of the current review are to present botanical and nutritive values of this herb, elaborate its major constituents, and review available literature on its dietetic and biological activities. MDPI 2022-05-18 /pmc/articles/PMC9147557/ /pubmed/35631245 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14102104 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Hammoudi Halat, Dalal Krayem, Maha Khaled, Sanaa Younes, Samar A Focused Insight into Thyme: Biological, Chemical, and Therapeutic Properties of an Indigenous Mediterranean Herb |
title | A Focused Insight into Thyme: Biological, Chemical, and Therapeutic Properties of an Indigenous Mediterranean Herb |
title_full | A Focused Insight into Thyme: Biological, Chemical, and Therapeutic Properties of an Indigenous Mediterranean Herb |
title_fullStr | A Focused Insight into Thyme: Biological, Chemical, and Therapeutic Properties of an Indigenous Mediterranean Herb |
title_full_unstemmed | A Focused Insight into Thyme: Biological, Chemical, and Therapeutic Properties of an Indigenous Mediterranean Herb |
title_short | A Focused Insight into Thyme: Biological, Chemical, and Therapeutic Properties of an Indigenous Mediterranean Herb |
title_sort | focused insight into thyme: biological, chemical, and therapeutic properties of an indigenous mediterranean herb |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9147557/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35631245 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14102104 |
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