Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of thyme and cinnamon extracts [electronic resource].

Includes references.

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia ) extracts were investigated for their phenolic compounds , antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. Moreover, the gross chemical composition for both herbs was determined. Polyphenols were found to be 21.22 and 16.13 mg gallic acid/g for thyme and cinnamon ,respectively. Data ofHPLC revealed thirteen peaks of phenolic compounds in thyme extract, while cinnamon extract exhibited ten peaks only. Gallic, p-coumaric, vanillic, caffeic, ferulic acids were detected in both extracts, in addition to rosmarinic acid and thymol in thyme, also catechin was found in cinnamon. Both thyme and cinnamon extracts have high antioxidant activity, being 83.70% and 73.60%, respectively as measured by DMPD, Radical Scavenging Activity. Boiling of extracts for 20 min resulted in a significant decline of phenolic compounds content and antioxidant activities of thyme and cinnamon extracts .Moreover, sunflower oil contained 400 ppm of thyme extract exhibited the least peroxide value (PV) when stored at 60"C for 7 days. Sunflower oil contained 400 ppm of cinnamon extract or BHT had lower PV than that of the control. Thyme and cinnamon extracts explored considerable antimicrobial inhibition of each of Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger. In this respect, cinnamon extract was more effective than thyme extract.

Summary in Arabic.