INSIGHT INTO THE CHEMOTAXONOMY OF THYMUS SPECIES IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

Thymus L. is one of the most important and polymorphic genera of the Lamiaceae family, comprising app. 350 species distributed across Europe, Asia, North and East Africa and southern Greenland, with the greatest majority in the Mediterranean region. Thymus plants and their essential oils are well-regarded in traditional medicine and culinary practices in Southeastern Europe. Thymus essential oils have a high chemical variability due to different intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including genetic variations and environmental aspects. Despite the broad scientific interest in the taxonomy, chemotypes and the biological activity of its secondary metabolites, there is a lack of information regarding this genus in Southeastern Europe. The aim of the present review is to present the essential oils composition of versatile Thymus species from Southeastern Europe and compile the knowledge of the occurrence, essential oils chemical composition and the biological activities of Thymus species from Southeastern Europe (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Hungary, Moldavia, Turkey and Greece) that is of crucial importance for better understanding of their chemotaxonomy. In this context, this review effort to provide a thorough insight into the chemotype varieties present among 263 different Thymus spp. samples from Southeastern Europe, along with their essential oils’ major chemical constituents, and allows further investigation of the biological properties of Thymus L. and their essential oils.