| Thyme, A Natural Anti
Bacterial |
Thyme originates from
the Mediterranean region, and dried thyme was burned in ancient
Greece during ceremonies.
The Egyptians used thyme as an embalming agent in the mummification
process.
Its medicinal properties were utilized in the 16th century as an
antiseptic and antibacterial agent, before the discovery of
antibiotics.
Today, Asia is the world’s largest producer of thyme, with Europe,
the Mediterranean region, and America other large
producers.
Health Benefits of Thyme
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Antioxidants
Thyme contains the flavonoids apigenin, naringenin, luteolin, and
thymonin, which have antioxidant activity.
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Bronchitis
A surveillance study was conducted to investigate the benefits of
syrup extracts from thyme and ivy in treating acute bronchitis with
productive cough. The results demonstrated that children and
adolescents can be treated safely and effectively with the
thyme and ivy syrup.
In another double blind, placebo-controlled study, extracts of
thyme herb and primrose root or a placebo were administered over an
11-day to 361 patients with acute bronchitis. The results
demonstrated the effectiveness of the thyme/primrose extract in the
treatment of acute bronchitis.
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Anti Fungal
A study at the Department of Pharmacology at the University of
Milan in Italy has concluded that thymol, the major component of
thyme oil, has the ability to interfere with the formation
of candida.
A preliminary in-vitro study has determined the effectiveness of
thymol, and other oil extracts in treating onychomycosis, the
fungal infection of toe and fingernails.
The vapors of essential oil of thyme and thymol have also exhibited
suppressive activity on molds from damp buildings, and could
be used for disinfection of moldy walls.
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Mosquito Repellent
Carvacrol, p-cymene, linalool, alpha-terpinene, and thymol are all
ingredients derived from the essential oil of thyme, and have been
studied for their mosquito repellent properties. In the
study all 5 ingredients effectively repelled mosquitoes, and
alpha-terpinene and carvacrol showed significantly greater
repellent activity than a commercial formulation, with
thymol showing similar repellent activity. The duration
effectiveness of all 5 ingredients was equal to or higher than that
of the commercial mosquito repellent.
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Anti Bacterial
The thyme extract thymol is one of the ingredients in the anti
bacterial Listerine mouthwash, which in studies has
exhibited potent anti bacteria properties.
The results of a study demonstrated that the thyme oil ingredients
carvacrol and p-cymene could potentially be used as
antimicrobial agents in unpasteurized fruit juices.
In preliminary studies thyme and the essential oils thymol and
carvacrol inhibited the formation of Shigella, a food borne
bacteria that can cause severe dysentery.
In a study of the antimicrobial properties of 21 plant essential
oils against 5 bacteria, of which Salmonella and E. coli
were included, thyme oil was one of the most inhibitory.
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