Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacological Properties of Thymus satureioides Coss.

Abstract

Thymus satureioides Coss. (Lamiaceae) is a Moroccan medicinal plant locally known as “Azkouni” or “Zaitra.” It is widely used in traditional medicine to treat various ailments, including hypertension, diabetes, cold, fever, dermatological and circulatory disorders, immune problems, bronchitis, nociception, cooling, pharyngitis, cough, and influenza. The current review aims to critically summarize the literature on ethnopharmacological uses, chemical profile, and pharmacological investigations of T. satureioides in order to provide data support and scientific evidences for further investigations. Electronic databases such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, SciFinder, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Medline were used to gather data on T. satureioides. Chemical characterization of T. satureioides essential oils (EOs) and extracts allowed to identify a total of 139 bioactive compounds, mainly belonging to the terpenoids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids classes. T. satureioides especially its essential oils exhibited numerous biological activities such as antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, antiparasitic, and hypolipedemic activities. In light of these findings, further studies to transmute the traditional application of T. satureioides into scientific-based information are strongly required. Additional in vivo pharmacological studies are recommended to validate the results of the in vitro studies. Moreover, comprehensive preclinical and clinical trials on the pharmacological mechanisms of action of this plant and its bioactive compounds on molecular targets should be performed. Finally, more efforts must be focused on toxicological assessments and pharmacokinetic studies, in order to ensure the safety and the efficiency of T. satureioides.