Family: Labiatae
Genus: Thymus
Species: vulgaris
(i)General background on the plant
Thyme is a very common plant of southern Europe. It is a small perennial sub-shrub, with much branched stems, woody at the base. Leaves are evergreen, opposite, very small at 4 - 8mm long and linear to elliptic. Leaves are almost stalkless with margins curved inwards and with a strong scent of thyme. There are many varieties of this species which vary in flavour, leaf shape and habit.
(ii)Details of quality characters
Source of the essential oil, thymol.
(iii)Current production and yields
Cultivation of the traded herb is primarily in Spain, France, Italy and Bulgaria.
(iv)Constraints on production
Southern European herb growers have the edge on their northern European counterparts due to climate advantages. Thyme benefits from the longer growing season in Southern Europe.
(v)Markets and market potential
Thyme is one of the most important European culinary herbs. Because the leaves are leathery and contain little water, they dry without excessive loss of flavour and are most often used in this form.
The essential oil, thymol, has a wide range of uses in the manufacture of liqueurs, perfumes, pharmaceutical products and toilet articles (De Rougemont, 1989).
Research at Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) is showing the value of thymol in reducing the levels of degenerative diseases of old age (in laboratory mice and rats). It is claimed the oil slows the onset of ailments of old age such as memory loss, dementia and fading eyesight. It is also said to counter wrinkling. SAC have made a development agreement with Efamol Research Institute, part of the Scotia Holding Group. The company will manufacture thyme oil capsules. (Runham, 1995.)
In France there has been research on the use of aromatic oils for fumigant effect against kidney bean pests. Essential oils of rosemary, thyme, basil have shown promise for this purpose. (Regnault-Roger and Hamraoui, 1994).
(vi)Other information
Breeding of thyme:
In France, wild harvesting was the main source of supply but in 1970 research at Montpellier University lead to the cultivation of thyme. Clonal selection has been used to obtain a regular supply of thyme with a high yield to suit the market. The main trader of thyme in Europe, DUCROS then contracted with producers at a relatively high price.
Improvements have been made to Thyme for cultivation by farmers in France, enabling the crop to compete with wild thyme from developing countries (Verlet, 1992)
In Switzerland, Rey (1992) selected clones of thyme to produce higher levels of essential oil. From these clones, hybrids have been produced which can be used in seed production to overcome difficulties of vegetative propagation.
See the following pages in the NF-2000 Database
(vii)Contacts
(viii)References
- De Rougemont, G. M. 1989, A field guide to the crops of Britain and Europe, Collins. London.
- Rey, C. (1992) Selection of thyme for extreme areas (of Switzerland) Acta Horticultural 306, 66-70.
- Varlet, N. (1992) Trends of the medicinal and aromatic plant sector in France. Acta Horticultural 306, 169-175.
- Runham, S. (1995) A review of the potential uses of plants grown for extracts including essential oils and factors affecting their yield and composition. ADAS Ref F602/001.
- Regnault- Roger, C. and Hamraoui, A. (1994) Inhibition of reproduction of Acamthoscelides obtectus say (coleoptera), a kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) bruchid, by aromatic essential oils. Crop protection, 1994 vol. 13 No 8 pp 624-628.