Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activities of Tunisian Thymus capitatus L. Methanolic Extract

Thymus capitatus has traditionally been considered as an anthelmintic, antispasmodic, carminative, emmenagogue, expectorant, rubefactient, sedative, stimulant, and tonic. This work was carried out to determine total polyphenol and total flavonoids chemical composition of phenolics and to evaluate the antioxidant activities of the methanolic extract. Total phenolic contents were assayed using the Folin–Ciocalteu reagent, total flavonoid content was measured spectrophotometrically and phenolics were analyzed by reverse phase–high performance liquid chromatography. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and reducing power were calculated. Total phenols and total flavonoids varied significantly among the studied regions. Chromatographic analysis by reverse phase–high performance liquid chromatography showed that phenolic acids: tannic, gallic, chlorogenic hemihydrate, caffeic, syringic, ferulic, p-coumaric acid, and trans-cinnamic rosmarinic were the main compounds. The anti-radical activity was region-dependent a...