Abstract
Thymus praecox ssp. grossheimii (RONNIGER) JALAS var. grossheimii (Lamiaceae) is used as an herbal tea for cold, stomachache, cough, and infections in Turkey. There are no phytochemical studies on this species. We performed phytochemical studies and quantitative analysis of rosmarinic acid and luteolin 5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside in the methanol extract of the plant. Several chromatographic methods were used for the isolation of major compounds. HPLC methods were applied for quantitative analysis of rosmarinic acid and luteolin 5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside in the methanol extract. In this study, ursolic acid (1), oleanolic acid (2), methyl rosmarinate (3), ethyl rosmarinate (4), rosmarinic acid (5), luteolin 5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6), and thymoquinol 2,5-O-β-diglucopyranoside (7) were isolated from the aerial parts of the plant. The relative contents of rosmarinic acid and luteolin 5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside in the extract were 15.2 and 57.8 mg/g of dry weight, respectively. Compounds isolated from this plant and the contents of rosmarinic acid and luteolin 5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside provided reasonable evidence for the traditional usages of this plant.
