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An oil produced from Coridothymus capitatus (L.) Rchb. grown in island of Kos (Greece) has been analyzed by GC/MS and by chiral GC. The principal component of this oil was carvacrol (66.7%). The enantiomeric distribution of α-pinene, camphene, β-pinene, limonene, 1-octen-3-ol, linalool, terpinen-4-ol and α-terpineol in C. capitatus oil is presented for the first time.

The existence of three chemotypes of Coridothymus capitatus in Israel—a thymol-type, a carvacrol-type and a mixed-chemotype which contained thymol and carvacrol in the ratio about 1:2—was confirmed. A detailed composition of the volatiles of C. capitatus was studied by GC/MS and, excluding thymol/carvacrol ratio, the components of the oils were found to be nearly identical. With the exception of biosynthetically interrelated γ-terpinene, p-cymene, thymol and carvacrol, the major volatile constituents of C. capitatus were found to be β-caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, thymohydroquinone and thymoquinone.