Abstract

In this study, Thymus numidicus Poir. plant material was collected from two different locations in north-western Tunisia and the aerial parts essential oils (EOs) were extracted via hydro-distillation. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) were used for the qualitative analysis and quantification of the volatile constituents. Thymol (50.1–52.8%) was identified as the main compound of both EOs. To evaluate the potential application of the EOs as antifungal agents, the in vitro inhibitory effects were tested against six fungal strains; a strong antifungal activity of one sample was observed (MIC = 40–400 µg/mL). The in vitro antiproliferative activity was investigated on two human cancer cell lines, i.e. the colonic (HCT116) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) using the colourimetric MTT assay. Again, the same sample demonstrated to possess good antiproliferative activity against both cancer cell lines, with IC₅₀ values of 26.9 and 11.7 µg/mL, respectively.

摘要

在这项研究中，胸腺 numidicus Poir。从突尼斯西北部的两个不同地点收集植物材料，并通过水力蒸馏提取地上部分精油 (EO)。气相色谱与质谱联用 (GC-MS) 和火焰电离检测 (GC-FID) 用于挥发性成分的定性分析和定量。百里酚 (50.1–52.8%) 被确定为两种 EO 的主要化合物。为了评估 EO 作为抗真菌剂的潜在应用，测试了对六种真菌菌株的体外抑制作用；观察到一种样品具有很强的抗真菌活性（MIC = 40–400 µg/mL）。在体外使用比色 MTT 测定对两种人类癌细胞系，即结肠癌 (HCT116) 和乳腺癌 (MCF7) 研究了抗增殖活性。同样，同一样品证明对两种癌细胞系都具有良好的抗增殖活性，IC ₅₀值分别为 26.9 和 11.7 µg/mL。