Thyme, liquid extract

Villanueva et studied the pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) of thyme varieties (Thymus vulgaris. Thymus zygis and Thymus citriodorus) using ethanol, limonene, and ethyl lactate solvents, at different extraction temperatures (60, 130, and 200 C). Supercritical fluid extraction wifli pure CO2 (SFE-CO2) and with the three green solvents used as cosolvent were also tested. Additionally, the authors reported solubility data of thymol in limonene and ethanol at ambient pressure and temperatures in the range 30-43 C and the results were compared with efliyl lactate solubility data previously reported. In this respect, it was observed that thymol is very soluble in the three solvents, particularly in ethanol, followed by efliyl lactate, with concentrations around 90 wt% at the highest studied temperature. On the contrary, the solubility of thymol in limonene is somewhat lower ( 73 wt%). 

Almost colorless or brownish liquid thyme odor sharp burning taste, d 0.910-0.930. Rotation 0 to +5. n f 1.498-1.504. Sol in 1-2-5 vol and more of 80% alcohol- The oil is toxic to earthworms, while alcoholic extracts are toxic to siaphylococcj and Escherichia coli. Di] extracts are useful as expectorants Umanskii, Krutik, Furmatsiya 8, no. 6, 19 (1945), C.A. 41, 2209 (1947). 

Villanueva et concluded that any of the three green liquid solvents studied, namely ethanol, ethyl lactate and limonene, can efficiently extract thymol from thyme plants, with limonene being the solvent that produced the highest concentrations, due to its lipophilic character. Although PLE produced similar thymol recovery than SEE, considerably higher concentrations of thymol were obtained by SFE-CO2 (up to 31.0 wt%) supporting the selective extraction of volatile oil compounds from plants and herbs using SFE-CO2. 

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