The efficacy and function of thyme

There are so many medicinal herbs in the world, and it is inevitable that there are some that we are not familiar with. But as long as we have the spirit of learning throughout our lives, I believe we can slowly learn more medical herbs. Do you know about the medicinal herb thyme?

[Alias] Thyme (Shanghai Plant List).

[Source] It is the whole herb of thyme, a plant of the Lamiaceae family. Harvest from May to June.

【Original form】 Shrubby evergreen herb. The stem is hard and upright, quadrangular, 18 to 30 cm high and much branched. The leaves are sessile, opposite, linear-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 9-12 mm long, about 4 mm wide, with pointed apex, slightly curled margin, entire margin, broadly cuneate base, short hairs on the upper surface, and densely glandular dots. The branches are sparsely covered with whorls of inflorescence; the surface of the calyx is green with short soft hairs and glandular dots, the lower lip is 2-lobed into needle-like shapes, the upper lip is 3-lobed, and the lobes are shorter than those of the lower lip; the corolla is pink, slightly longer than the calyx, the upper lip is upright, the oil glands are obvious, and it has a camphor scent; the stamens are 2 strong, extending beyond the corolla, and the anthers are red; the stigma of the pistil is 2-lobed and red. Nutlets are brown. Flowering period is from May to June.

[Habitat distribution] Native to the Mediterranean coast; cultivated in my country.

[Chemical composition] The whole herb in full bloom contains 0.8-1.2% volatile oil. The volatile oil contains thymol (i.e. thymol, the main component of the oil), carvacrol, p-cymene, l-α-pinene, γ-terpinene, α-terpineol, l-brain, caryophyllene, linalool, linalool acetate, borneol acetate, 2-methyl-6-methyleneheptadien-2,7-ol and its acetate. It is also said that different varieties have different monoterpene components in their volatile oils, which may be geraniol, linalool, α-terpineol, cinnamaldehyde, thymol or thuja alcohol-4 and terpineol-4.

【Pharmacological action】 ① Antibacterial effect

【Functions and indications】 ① "Pharmacology of Chinese medicine": "Antitussive. Especially effective for whooping cough. Used for acute bronchitis and laryngitis. Also a skin irritant and antiseptic detergent."

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decoct in water, 1 to 2 qian.

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

In the above article, we analyzed thyme and learned that its functions and effects are very extensive. As long as we know more about the medicinal properties of traditional Chinese medicine, we will not panic when we encounter diseases.