Antibacterial and antifungal activity of juniper berry oil and its selected components

Abstract

Juniper berry oil is stated to possess a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities and its monographs are included in some National Pharmacopoeias. The antibacterial and antifungal activity of the oil was reported by some authors. In our study we estimated the antibacterial and antifungal activity of three different juniper berry oils and their main components. All the micro-organisms used in this experiment were isolated from patients of Regional Hospital of Gdańsk and some of them showed resistance against commonly used antibiotics. Only one of the oils (labelled A) revealed good antimicrobial properties. None of the single oil components was a stronger antibacterial and antifungal inhibitor than the oil A itself. Our data suggest that the antimicrobial activity of juniper oil A is the result of either the specific composition of the oil A (highest concentration of (-)-alpha-pinene, p-cymene and beta-pinene) or activity of a single non-identified compound. The presence of an adulterant in the oil was excluded.

The Therapeutic Properties of Juniperus Communis L.: Antioxidant Capacity, Bacterial growth Inhibition, Anticancer Activity and Toxicity

“…[6][7][8] Several previous studies have reported growth inhibitory activity for J. communis berries towards multiple bacterial species. [10][11][12] Pharmacognosy Journal, Vol 8, Issue 3, May-Jun, 2016…”

“…754 and Staphylococcus aureus 10 and against an extended panel of pathogenic bacteria. [11][12] However, despite the traditional usage of J.communis berries for the treatment of autoimmune inflammatory diseases (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis), growth inhibition of the bacterial triggers of these diseases remains relatively unexplored.…”

Antimicrobial Activity of Artemisia absinthium Against Surgical Wounds Infected by Staphylococcus aureus in a Rat Model

“…Pinene-type monoterpenes (a-pinene and b-pinene), as minor components of this plant, are also well-known chemicals having antimicrobial potentials. Enantiomers of a-pinene and bpinene have a strong antibacterial activity [21][22][23][24].…”

Phytochemical composition of some common coastal halophytes of the United Arab Emirates

“…Essential oil extracted from the leaves by hydrodistillation have been found to contain active phytochemicals (mostly terpenoids), which included (in descending order of amount in the essential oil): o-cymene, alpha-and betapinene, trans-caryophyllene, 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol), limonene, alpha-terpinene and alphaterpinolene, camphene, bornylacetate, tridecane and alpha-humulene. Due to the content of these compounds, essential oils of S. portulacastrum exhibit notable antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal properties (Filipowicz et al, 2003;Magwa et al, 2006). Trans-caryophyllene, bornylacetate, tridecane and alpha-humulene have been claimed to be precursors of complex menthols and resins, which are the defense mechanism of trees against pathogens (Magwa et al, 2006).…”