Description
‘Thyme’ is known in Hindi as Banajwain, Marizha, Masho, Rangsbur in Punjabi and Hasha in Urdu. Thyme is a perennial shrub with a semi-evergreen groundcover and aromatic gray-green leaves. This is an herb with a distinctive aroma. Thyme leaves are small, usually 2.5 mm long, and vary greatly in shape and hair coverage depending on the variety of each species. The flowers, leaves and oils are commonly used to flavor foods and also for medicinal purposes. It originated in southern Europe and other countries. This Mediterranean herb grows in temperate climates and has dietary, medicinal and ornamental uses. Today, there are numerous varieties of plants with different flavor profiles. Thyme plants contain volatile oils, flavonoids, and monoterpenoids, all of which contribute to its medicinal properties. The current studies looked at the effects of supplemental thyme intake on immune responses and antioxidant activity. Thyme is also used to treat coughs, irregular hair loss (alopecia areata), dementia, and a variety of other conditions. Thyme is an herb that I learned about in the food, pharmaceutical, health and beauty industries.
Introduction
Thymus vulgaris, from the Lamiaceae family, is a spicy herb. It is rich in aroma and flavor from its dried leaves. Thyme is widely grown around the world and harvested for its essential oil. This is a tiny shrub that commonly grows once a year, but can also survive in warm climates and is evergreen. The stems are woody and have simple, oviform leaves, arranged oppositely. These small, tube-shaped flowers grow in rings along the stems and are usually white. It is used to season a wide variety of foods, including poultry, stuffing, fish, eggs, meat, sauces, soups and vegetables. It is one of the herbs used to flavor Benedictine liquor.
Thymol, or thyme camphor, is the main component of essential oil and is used in the manufacture of perfumes. It is an important aromatic plant with approximately 100 species worldwide and is commonly used in pharmaceutical and culinary dishes. Some varieties of thyme are grown for ornamental purposes.
Thyme thrives in temperate to hot, dry, sunny climates, where the plant does not appear to have shade. Thyme grows well in temperate to warm, dry, sunny climates, where the plant does not appear to have shade. The use of sun drying techniques results in a low quality volatile oil. Artificial drying strategies, on the other hand, allow for more effective management of product quality. Thyme should be dried at a temperature no higher than 40°C.
Components of thyme
Its properties are attributed to two main components: thymol and Carvacrol.
thymol is a derivative of a phenolic compound (monoterpene) and an isomer of carvacrol. And it is an important component of thyme oil. Thymine vulgaris contained 27 compounds in thymine oil, including thymol, parasmene, gammatripiniene, carvacrol methyl ether, cineole, and boaneol. The main components are thymol, gamma-tropinone, carvacrol and betacaryophyllene.
Nutritional values
Thyme contains nutrients that prevent disease and promote health. This aromatic herb is high in phytonutrients, minerals and vitamins, all of which are beneficial to human health. Fresh leaves of Thymus vulgaris have high nutritional value. Niacin, pyridoxine, riboflavin, thiamine, vitamins A and C, as well as sodium and potassium are present as electrolytes. Thyme is packed with minerals that are essential for optimal health. Calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese and zinc are the minerals found here. One of the phytonutrients is beta-carotene. Potassium is an essential component of cells and body fluids and regulates heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is a cofactor of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase. Iron helps in the formation of red blood cells.
Thyme has the following properties
Thymol is one of the most important essential oils of thyme, with antispasmodic, antiflatulence, disinfectant, anticorrosive, antiseptic and antifungal properties.
Gastrointestinal Health
In the stomach, thyme acts as a pain reliever or analgesic. It has the ability to prevent excess production of mucus, bile products and stomach acids. Some experiments with rats have shown that thyme oil helps protect the epithelial layers of the stomach against ulcers.
In coughs, colds and other respiratory disorders such as bronchitis, emphysema and asthma, thyme plays an excellent role with its bioactive substituents. Although in homes, traditional use of thyme includes tea and aromatherapy.
In a 2013 study, a scientist created a nasal spray with a thyme-based extract called as-thymol. This spray was first tested on healthy people with normal lung function. They used the nasal spray before and after inhaling a small dose of capsaicin, which would normally make them cough. With the use of this spray, they coughed less.
thymol and Carvacrol are the main bioactive compounds found in thyme. This can help relieve a blocked chest.
Antioxidants
Thyme contains numerous flavonoids and phenolic antioxidants, such as zeaxanthin, pigenin and thymonin. The leaf parts and oils of thyme are used to flavor, aroma and preserve foods, as well as in folk medicine. During the study, several experiments were carried out in rats to demonstrate the components of Thymus vulgaris oil and evaluate its protective effects against aflatoxin-induced oxidative stress. Some studies have shown that phenolic content is strongly related to antioxidant activity; A high level of phenolic compounds indicates that thyme has a high antioxidant capacity. The DPPH assay, which is a free radical scavenging assay, can be used to examine antioxidant concentrations.
Antimicrobial properties
The MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) of carvacrol and thymol was used to demonstrate that the common herb thyme contains caffeic acid, which is effective against viruses, bacteria and fungi. Carvacrol kills pathogenic microorganisms by disintegrating their cytoplasm and preventing an increase in plasma levels of triglycerides and cholesterol.
Another recent study found that thyme essential oil (TEO) contains linalool and geraniol, which reduce neuroinflammation in BV2 microglial cells induced by lipopolysaccharide. Three pentacyclic terpenes isolated from T. vulgaris have glutaminase inhibitory activities: ursolic acid, betulinic acid, and oleanolic acid. Glutaminase inhibitors have been identified as potential therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatment of NEs.
Another recent study found that linalool and geraniol in thyme essential oil (TEO) reduced neuroinflammation in lipopolysaccharide-induced BV2 microglial cells. This study began by analyzing the effects of TEO on inflammation in different parts of the brain (hippocampus, cerebellum, and cerebral cortex). Telomere protection, combined with reduced brain inflammation through TEO dietary supplementation, is expected to promote healthy aging and increase healthy life expectancy worldwide.
Ayurvedic applications of thyme include
This dynamic herb contains phenols, thymol and carvacrol. They have functional antimicrobial agents that soothe and cure respiratory tract infections by thinning mucus and fighting bacteria. Many new products are supplied in the pharmaceutical industry. One of the thyme products is used in mouth-related cases such as bad breath, ulcers, sore throat, etc.
To treat respiratory infections, use thyme as a tea tincture, ointment, syrup, or steam inhalation. To treat the inflammation of a sore throat, gargle with cooled thyme tea. “Thyme tea” is taken hot and can be used to relieve menstrual pain and diarrhea, as well as migraines. Thymol, a crystalline phenol, is a potent and effective antibiotic and antiseptic that boosts the immune system and fights infections. It is the main active ingredient in Lysterine mouthwash. Thyme oil was used to medicate bandages before modern antibiotics were invented. It has also been shown to be effective against fungi that commonly infect toenails and cause athlete’s foot.
External use of essential oils is believed to be beneficial for maintaining teeth and gums, as well as relieving toothache. The oil is also used as a massage to treat rheumatism and gout, as well as as a chest massage to reduce inflammation of the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract. Thyme tea has been used to help prevent gastric fermentation. You can take honey to relieve a sore throat. In addition, its diaphoretic properties make it useful for sweating fever.
Tea made with thyme
Thymol, the main component of thyme essential oil, has antibacterial properties against bacterial infections such as Salmonella and Staphylococcus. Thyme’s antiseptic and tonic properties make it an effective immune tonic for chronic infections, particularly fungi and yeasts such as Candida albicans. It is also effective against enterobacter.
Conclusion
Thyme is an important medicinal plant that belongs to the Lamiaceae family. It has been used for centuries as a home remedy, spice, drug, perfume and insecticide. Thymus vulgaris essential oil is a popular preservative and antioxidant in the food and cosmetic industry. This oil exhibited the highest antifungal efficacy. The current state of knowledge on thyme shows a great excess of nutritional and therapeutic benefits and makes strong recommendations for future research directions. Its nutritional and chemical components have also demonstrated important benefits for human health. However, there are many substitutes for thyme, including oregano, rosemary, parsley, and basil. These are all from the same family. Thyme is used in Ayurvedic medicine to prevent doshas and can be consumed as a tea or drink. No doubt, the future generation will prefer Ayurvedic treatments.