Chemical composition, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb. leaves from Türkiye

Abstract

Juniper species are especially used in traditional medicine due to their analgesic, diuretic, antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and liver-protective effects. The goal of the present study was to investigate the chemical compounds, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties of essential oil of Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb., a species of juniper with a large spread area in Turkey. Essential oils were extracted by the hydro-distillation method. The components of the hydro distilled oil samples were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In the study, the essential oil was evaluated for its antibacterial activity against six bacterial strains consisting of two Gram (+) and four Gram (–) by the agar disc diffusion method. Additionally, the antioxidant properties of the oil were determined by TEAC/ABTS+ free radical scavenging assay. As a result, there were 27 compounds in the essential oil of J. excelsa. Of the 27 essential oil components identified, α-pinene (40.59%), α-cedrol (18.15%), β-myrcene (4.53%), and limonene (3.84%) were determined as the main components in total 91.54% of the essential oil. As a result, it was observed that the examined juniper essential oil showed a weak but effective antibacterial activity against all bacterial strains compared to the control agents, and also, the examined oil had low but valuable antioxidant activity.