Essential oil polymorphism of wild growing Hungarian thyme (Thymus pannonicus) populations in the Carpathian Basin

Abstract

The volatile oil compositions of Thymus pannonicus All. from nineteen different localities of Hungary were analyzed by GC/MS. The essential oil content of the Hungarian thyme samples varied between very low (0.14 mL/100 g DW) and fairly high (1.9 mL/100 g DW) values. Significant essential oil polymorphism was found: altogether twelve chemovarieties may have been determined, representing a way of adaptation to different habitat conditions. The main volatile compound of chemotype 1 was thymol (24.6-67.5%), while in the case of chemotype 2, thymol (36.5-63.7%) and p-cymene (11.5-27.3%) predominated. Thymol (28.4-63.7%), p-cymene (11.5-31.8%) and γ-terpinene (9.7-20.9%) were identified as the chief monoterpenes of chemotype 3, while chemotype 4 contained thymol (36.5%), p-cymene (27.3%) and neral (11.2%). Chemotype 5 accumulated thymol (38.5%), p-cymene (20.6%), γ-terpinene (12.0%) and β-bisabolene (10.3%) as its main volatiles. The oil of chemotype 6 can be characterized by thymol (41.9%), p-cymene (20.2%), isoborneol (10.3%) and ã-terpinene (9.9%), while that of chemotype 7 consisted of thymol (27.7%), linalyl acetate (18.8%), γ-terpinene (18.6%) and α-cubebene (13.9%). In the oil of chemotype 8, p-cymene (45.0%), geraniol (13.6%) and linalyl acetate (9.9%) were found in higher percentages, while chemotype 9 mainly produced linalyl acetate (36.2%) and geranyl acetate (20.2%). Chemotype 10 accumulated germacrene-D (43.4) and β-caryophyllene (15.0%), while the oil of chemotype 11 contained caryophyllene oxide (45.2%), α-cubebene (15.7%) and linalool (13.8%) in high proportions. Germacrene-D (29.7%), β-caryophyllene (22.0%) and farnesol (10.4%) were identified as main essential oil compounds of chemotype 12. The last nine chemotypes were new for the literature, while the first seven contained thymol as their chief compound. The role of certain sesquiterpenes was found to be considerable.