Background:There are no information of the yield, chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oils of berries (EOB) or leaves (EOL) of Juniperus excelsa Bieb. (Cupressaceae) growing wild in R. Macedonia.Materials and Methods:Plant material was collected from two localities during two seasons. Essential oil composition was analyzed by gas chromatography/flame ionization detector/mass spectrometry (GC/FID/MS) and antimicrobial screening was made by disc diffusion and broth dilution method.Results and Discussion:EOB yield ranged from 1.6-9.4 ml/kg and from 8.9-13.9 ml/kg for EOL. Two chemotypes of essential oil were differentiated, α-pinene-type (with 70.81% α-pinene in EOB and 33.83% in EOL), also containing limonene, β-pinene and β-myrcene while the sabinene-type (with 58.85-62.58% sabinene in EOB and 28.52-29.49% in EOL), was rich in α-pinene, β-myrcene, limonene, cis-thujone, terpinolene and α-thujene. The most sensitive bacteria to the antimicrobial activity of EOB was Haemophilus influenzae (MIC = 31 μl/ml). EOL have showed high activity towards: Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Haemophilus influenzae (MIC = 125 μl/ml). The pinene-type of essential oil showed moderate activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Corynebacterium spp. and Campylobacter jejuni (MIC >50%). The sabinene-type of the oil showed moderate activity to Streptococcus pyogenes, Haemopilus influenzae, Campylobacter jejuni and Escherichia coli (MIC >50%). No activity was observed toward Candida albicans.Conclusion:The analysis of EOB and EOL revealed two chemotypes (α-pinene and sabinene type) clearly depended on the geographical origin of the Macedonian Juniperus excelsa which also affected the antimicrobial activity of these oils.
Flavonoids and other phenolic compounds in young needles of four pine species, Pinus peuce, P. nigra, P. mugo and P. sylvestris from the Macedonian flora were investigated. The amount of total phenols and total flavonoids were determined using Folin-Ciocalteau and aluminum chloride assay, respectively. The obtained results revealed that the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoids content (TFC) varied among different pine species ranging from 9.8 to 14.0 mg GAE/g and from 3.3 to 7.2 mg CE/g of dried plant material, respectively. Qualitative analysis of flavonoids and other phenolic components was made by a LC-DAD/ESI-MSn optimized chromatographic method. A total of 17 phenolic components were identified and classified as: acids (2), procyanidins (2) and flavonoid glycosides (13). The most prevalent components were flavonoid glycosides, especially flavonols and methylated flavonols (9). Additionally, 3 components were found as acylated flavonol glycosides with ferulic and p-coumaric acid. The last one was found not only in esterified form but also in the free form. Only one flavone-apigenin glycoside was detected. Procyanidins were identified as catechin derivatives, both dimers and trimers.
The essential oils of 25 populations of Dalmatian sage (Salvia officinalis L.) from nine Balkan countries, including 17 indigenous populations (representing almost the entire native distribution area) and eight non-indigenous (cultivated or naturalized) populations were analyzed. Their essential-oil yield ranged from 0.25 to 3.48%. Within the total of 80 detected compounds, ten (β-pinene, 1,8-cineole, cis-thujone, trans-thujone, camphor, borneol, trans-caryophyllene, α-humulene, viridiflorol, and manool) represented 42.60 to 85.70% of the components in the analyzed essential oils. Strong positive correlations were observed between the contents of trans-caryophyllene and α-humulene, α-humulene and viridiflorol, and viridiflorol and manool. Principal component analysis (PCA) on the basis of the contents of the ten main compounds showed that four principal components had an eigenvalue greater than 1 and explained 79.87% of the total variation. Performing cluster analysis (CA), the sage populations could be grouped into four distinct chemotypes (A-D). The essential oils of 14 out of the 25 populations of Dalmatian sage belonged to Chemotype A and were rich in cis-thujone and camphor, with low contents of trans-thujone. The correlation between the essential-oil composition and geographic variables of the indigenous populations was not significant; hence, the similarities in the essential-oil profile among populations could not be explained by the physical proximity of the populations. Additionally, the southeastern populations tended to have higher EO yields than the northwestern ones.
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