Thyme essential oil has antispasmodic, antitussive and expectorant effects
The expert of Hamedan University Jihad Research Department said: Thyme is one of the oldest medicinal and spice plants, so that the ancient Egyptians and Greeks used thyme to treat their diseases, and in religious books, thyme is mentioned as a favorite plant of Prophet Moses (pbuh). .
Ramin Amiri added: Thyme was selected as the medicinal plant of the year in 2006. It is also the medicinal plant selected by the World Health Organization.
He stated: Thyme has different species that Thymus is a plant from the mint family and the genus of 14 species is native to Iran. Thyme is a perennial plant with dense and branched shrubs, straight roots and more or less woody with many branches and has a straight, quadrangular stem that the plant height is usually between 20 to 50 cm.
He continued: The lower part of this plant is a wooden stem, while the upper parts are green and have many branches. The leaves are small, opposite and more or less lanceolate and without petioles. The leaves are covered with gray hairs and contain essential oils, and the flowers are small, entire, white, pink, and purple.
Amiri stated: Thyme seeds are very small and there are three genera including Zateria, Ziziphora and Thymus, which are known as thyme in the Mint family, and Z. multiflora, which is the famous species of Zataria, which is known as broad leaf. And it is a plant that has a limited distribution in the world and grows mostly in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The shape of its flowers and leaves is different from that of thyme, so that thyme has wider leaves.
He added: The genus T. Ziziphora, which is known as cockatiel or thin leaf thyme, is very similar to T. It has vulgaris and the parts used are flower buds.
“Thyme is native to the Mediterranean region and needs warm air and enough light during its growth, and is sometimes found wild,” he said. This plant is drought friendly and can easily tolerate dehydration and drought.
The research expert of Hamedan Jihad University continued: Thyme is sensitive to flooding and this causes the plant to dry out. Light soils containing calcium compounds are suitable soils for thyme cultivation. Suitable soil acidity for planting thyme is 5 to 8.
He stated that thyme essential oil is extracted from fresh plants by distillation with water, he said: Thyme essential oil is extracted from the flowering branches of the plant so that it has phenols such as thymol and carvacrol 40% and has cement, linna lollipop, pinene and .. . Is. Thymol and carvacrol are the most important components of essential oils.
He added: Thyme has strong antifungal and antibacterial effects and this property is due to the presence of thymol and carvacrol in thyme essential oil.
He noted: Thyme essential oil has been found to have antispasmodic, antitussive and expectorant effects, and thyme essential oil ointment is used to treat some skin diseases. Also, washing the head with a dilute solution of thyme essential oil increases blood flow to the scalp and strengthens the glands. Hair and thus prevent hair loss.