Production of secondary metabolites in intact plants and cultured cells of Thymus vulgaris L.

Thymus vulgaris L. is a traditional herbal medicine used widely as an expectorant, antitussive, and antibacterial agent. In this study the analysis of the chemical composition of essential oil from the upper parts of plant and calli of Thymus vulgaris L. was done for detection of the presence of major components. Growing of the calli of Thymus vulgaris L. and its secondary metabolites production were studied and compared with those in the intact plants. Thymus seeds were first sterilized by shaking in 3% (W/V) aqueous hydrogen peroxide, 5% Na hypochlorite and 80% aqueous ethanol solution respectively, and then kept in sterile petri dishes containing autoclaved agar (0.8%) at 25–27°C under dark aseptic condition. seedlings were developed in two weeks. Then they were transferred to sterile Murashige and Skoog (MS) culture media containing 2, 4-D (3mg/L), IAA (1mg/L) and Kinetin (0.2mg/L) as plant growth regulators. The amorphous masses (calli) were produced and subcultured every 30–35 days. The essential oils of plant specimens were obtained using clevenger apparatus within 4 hours and then analyzed by GC/MS. for calli, the GC/FID used for Thymol detection in dichloromethane extract. The results obtained from the GC/MS & GC/FID of essential oil of the upper parts of the plant and the calli indicated that the major components produced by the plant include thymol, para-cymene, and gamma-terpinene and the calli is able to produce thymol among mentioned components. Phytochemical tests indicated that some tannins were produced by calli, too.