Seasonal variation in phytochemicals of essential oil fromJuniperus communisneedles in western Himalaya

Abstract

Essential oil from Juniperus communis needles were examined in three different seasons (spring, rainy and winter) throughout the year for the analysis of yield and chemical composition. Volatiles of the needles were obtained by hydrodistillation process using clevenger type apparatus. The essential oil yield in all the seasons was not significantly changed and was found 0.29% (rainy), 0.3% (winter) and 0.33% (spring). Chemical compositions of the oils were analyzed by GC and GC-MS techniques on DB-5 capillary column resulted in identification of twenty-eight components. Identified components accounted for 91.1-93.1% of the total oils. The major class of compounds identified in present essential oil was monoterpene hydrocarbons (51.9-63.7%) with sabinene (30.1-37.1%) as the major constituent. Other compounds characterized in all the seasons were limonene (11.3-15.7%), 4-terpineol (9.1-10.5%), α-pinene (3.6-7.9%), δ-cadinene (3.7-4.6%), cis-sabinene hydrate (3.6-4.2%), myrcene (2.5-3.1%), α-terpinene (2.3-2.8%) and manool (1.3-2.2%). In this experiment winter was found to be most suitable time for the isolation of sabinene and limonene.

Chemical Composition, Cytotoxic and Antibacterial Activities of Essential Oils of Cultivated Clones of Juniperus communis and Wild Juniperus Species

“…Earlier reported studies also detected sabinene as main oil component in J. communis (48.8 -61.09%). [38] [39] We have also observed high concentration of a-pinene and sabinene in J. recurva, which is in agreement with previous published report. [40] It has also been observed that a-pinene (49.0%) and d-3-carene (8.9%) were prevalent in wild J. communis compared to other Juniper species.…”

“…Earlier reported studies also detected sabinene as main oil component in J . communis (48.8 – 61.09%) . We have also observed high concentration of α ‐pinene and sabinene in J .…”

“…Previous literature also showed that the seasonal and phenological variations greatly affected EOs composition. [38][48] a-Pinene was favored for the exceptional pharmaceutical uses, [49] and due to its pleasant aroma, it is extensively used in perfumery industry, while limonene was found immense applications in formulations of commercially available flea, shampoos, mosquito repellents and diverse agrochemicals. [50] Sabinene is used in foods [14] and is a precursor for the production of advanced biofuels.…”

“…Previous studies reported that EOs and its constituents namely a-pinene and limonene showed high cytotoxic potential against different cancer cell lines. [38][53] [54] The cytotoxic potential of EOs were tested on SiHa, A549 and A431 cells ( [55] Antibacterial Activity of EOs…”

Juniperus communis L.: A review of volatile organic compounds of wild and cultivated common juniper in Lithuania

“…Even more, in the study above it was found for the first time that needles and berries of the same plants produced essential oils of different chemotypes. Some needle essential oils of J. communis from Scandinavian countries, Poland, Iran, Portugal, France (Corsica Island), India and Italy (Sardinia Island) contained also predominant amounts of sabinene [23,28,30,31,[40][41][42][43][44][45].…”