title: Plants belonging to the genus Thymus as antibacterial agents: from farm to pharmacy.
abstract: In traditional medicine, plants have been used since ancient times for the prevention and/or protection against infectious diseases. In recent years, the use of herbal medicines and food supplements containing botanical ingredients, as alternative therapy for infectious diseases, has been intensified due to their high content of antimicrobial agents such as polyphenols, i.e. flavonoids, tannins, and alkaloids. Plants from the genus Thymus are important medicinal herbs, which are known to contain antimicrobial agents, and are rich in different active substances such as thymol, carvacrol, p-cymene and terpinene. In this review, we summarise the available literature data about the in vitro antibacterial effects of the main plants belonging to the genus Thymus. We also provide information about cultivation, chemical composition of the essential oils obtained from these plants, and their use for medicinal purposes.
authors.affiliation: Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Health Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Mohammad
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Nabavi
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Unit-DISC, University of Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marchese
authors.affiliation: Health Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Morteza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Izadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology Section, University of Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Curti
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology Section, University of Pavia, Italy. Electronic address: maria.daglia@unipv.it.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daglia
authors.affiliation: Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Health Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Fazel
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Nabavi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D046930:Thymus Plant / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Antibacterial activity; Carvacrol; Essential oils and extracts; Genus Thymus plants; Thymol