Chemical Composition and Phytochemical Screening of Juniperus Phoenicea L.: Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity, Minerals, and Bioactive Compounds

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to determine Juniperus phoenicea L.'s elemental content, antioxidant activity, and phytochemical composition. Phytochemical screening was performed on four plant extracts (water, ethanol, chloroform, and ether). The aqueous and ethanol extracts were also analyzed for their total phenols, total flavonoids, and total antioxidant contents. The levels of macroelements (Na, Mg, Ca) and microelements (Fe, Cu, Zn) in the plant were determined by flame photometry and atomic absorption spectrometry. Moisture, ash, total protein, and total alkaloids were also determined. The results showed that the aqueous and ethanol extracts contained various phytochemicals, such as carbohydrates, proteins, phenols, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, coumarins, anthocyanins, saponins, and glycosides. The ethanol extract had higher concentrations of most phytochemicals than the aqueous extract, except for carbohydrates and proteins. The chloroform and ether extracts had lower concentrations of phytochemicals than the aqueous and ethanol extracts. The moisture, ash, total protein, and total alkaloid contents of the plant were 13%, 5.52%, 10.78%, and 1.84%, respectively. The total phenol contents, total flavonoid contents, and total antioxidant activity of the ethanol extract were 49.36±5.24 mg/g, 20.61±2.08 mg/g, and 34.82±2.44 mg/g, respectively. The corresponding values for the aqueous extract were 46.26±2.47 mg/g, 14.80±1.12 mg/g, and 37.32±3.29 mg/g, respectively. The order of abundance for macroelements was Ca (26860±950 mg/kg) > Na (1705.4±85 mg/kg) > Mg (944.4±38 mg/kg), whereas for microelements it was Fe (315.4±18 mg/kg) > Cu (55.52±3 mg/kg) > Zn (35.66±2 mg/kg). These results indicate that Juniperus phoenicea L. is a rich source of phytochemicals and elements that may have potential health benefits.