One of the main factors affecting historical art crafts material is the biodeterioration performed
by bacteria and fungi, in archives, museums or private collections. Several microorganisms
cause degradation to the natural organic material such as fibers, woods, and dyes as well as to stone
objects. These alterations produce deterioration of physical, chemical, mechanical and esthetic
properties. Consequently, in this publication, we report the high antibacterial and antifungal activities
of wild thyme essential oil, oil that can be used as an alternative natural tool in the fight against
microorganisms affecting historical art crafts.
Essential oil of the Thymus capitatus growing wild in northern Sicily has been extracted by
hydrodistillation from aerial parts collected at different growth times. The constituents of the
essential oil have been characterized by gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry.