Quality Attributes of the Thyme (Thymus numidicus Poiret.) Essential Oil

One of the main factors limiting the increase, trade and market penetration by essential oils has been the lack of quality standards. Thyme is among the most important essential oil of Algeria that are used by the perfume, food and pharmaceutical industry. This study was undertaken to determine the physicochemical and organoleptic properties of the essential oil of Thyme (Thymus numidicus Poiret.) growing spontaneously in Algeria. The evaluation of the yield of essential oil extracted by hydrodistillation is: 1,1%. The qualitative and quantitative analysis by (GC / MS) of the essential oil allowed to identify 65 compounds which represent: 95.70%, the main ones being: carvacrol (27.388%), thymol (22.476%), p- cymene (9.411%), delta.3-Carene (8.424%), β-Pinène (5.971%), α-terpinolène (5.808%), Limonène (1.917%), α-pinène (1.743%), β-Cubebène (1.651%), α-Copaene (1.385%), α-terpinène (1.353%), α-thujen (1.166%), totaling approximately: 88,693%. The density is: 0.900 ± 0.005. The measurement of the calculated refractive index and reduced to 20°C is of low refraction to light: 1.4830 ± 0.003. The boiling and evaporation index are: (233-255°C)