The potential of Thymus pulegioides L. as an alternative and valuable source of functional ingredients has been assessed. For this purpose, the phenolic constituent profiles and the antioxidant, anti-proliferative, neuroprotective, anti-aging and anti-diabetic activities of both T. pulegioides aqueous decoctions (AD) and hydro-ethanolic extracts (HE) were studied and compared for the first time. Rosmarinic acid was the main phenolic compound, accounting for 35.2% or 47.8% of total identified phenols in AD or HE, respectively (58.5 and 151.9 mg g⁻¹ extract). Furthermore, large amounts of luteolin-O-hexuronide (AD: 39.9 ± 2.5 mg g⁻¹, HE: 60.8 ± 7.0 mg g⁻¹), eriodictyol-O-hexuronide (AD: 19.9 ± 2.5 mg g⁻¹, HE: 26.8 ± 7.0 mg g⁻¹) and chrysoeriol hexoside (AD: 23.5 ± 0.7 mg g⁻¹, HE: 16.0 ± 0.7 mg g⁻¹) were found. Both extracts showed significant in vitro antioxidant activity and anti-proliferative activity against Caco-2 cells (IC₅₀ 82.25 μg mL⁻¹ and 105.44 μg mL⁻¹, AD and HE, respectively), and reduced hepatotoxicity (HepG2 cells). In general, both T. pulegioides extracts showed poor anti-diabetic activity, moderate anti-aging effects and high neuroprotective activity with both AD and HE extracts, at 0.5 mg mL⁻¹, showing 80% inhibition of the acetylcholinesterase activity and 94% inhibition of the tyrosinase activity. The present study highlights the important potential of this herb as a functional food ingredient.

中文翻译：

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百里香百里香L.是抗氧化剂，抗增殖和神经保护性酚类化合物的丰富来源†

已经评估了百里香百里香作为功​​能性成分的替代和有价值来源的潜力。为此，研究并比较了百日草（T. pulegioides）水煎剂（AD）和水乙醇提取物（HE）的酚类成分概况以及抗氧化剂，抗增殖，神经保护，抗衰老和抗糖尿病活性，并比较了第一次。迷迭香酸是主要的酚类化合物，分别占AD或HE中鉴定出的总酚的35.2％或47.8％（提取物为58.5和151.9 mg g ^-1）。此外，大量的木犀草素-O-己糖醛酸（AD：39.9±2.5 mg g ^-1，HE：60.8±7.0 mg g ^-1），雌黄醇-O发现己糖醛酸（AD：19.9±2.5 mg g ^-1，HE：26.8±7.0 mg g ^-1）和金葱酚己糖苷（AD：23.5±0.7 mg g ^-1，HE：16.0±0.7 mg g ^-1）。两种提取物均显示出对Caco-2细胞的显着体外抗氧化活性和抗增殖活性（分别为IC ₅₀ 82.25μgmL ^-1和105.44μgmL ^-1，AD和HE），并降低了肝毒性（HepG2细胞）。通常，在0.5 mg mL ^-1的浓度下，AD和HE提取物均对T. pulegioides提取物显示出较差的抗糖尿病活性，适度的抗衰老作用和较高的神经保护活性。表现出80％的抑制乙酰胆碱酯酶活性和94％的抑制酪氨酸酶活性。本研究强调了这种草药作为功能性食品成分的重要潜力。