Natural Product Research 2011-10-01

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of Juniperus phoenicea L. berries.

Hanène Medini, Ameur Elaissi, Med Larbi Khouja, Alessandra Piras, Silvia Porcedda, Danilo Falconieri, Bruno Marongiu, Rachid Chemli

Index: Nat. Prod. Res. 25(18) , 1695-706, (2011)

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Abstract

This study is designed to examine the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of Juniperus phoenicea L. ripe and unripe berries. GC and GC/MS analyses resulted in the detection of 42 components representing approximately 96.50-99.57% of the oils. Major components of the oils were α-pinene (58.61-77.39%), camphene (0.67-9.31%), δ-3-carene (0-10.01%) and trans-verbenol (0-5.24%). Antioxidant activities were determined by two different test systems, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities. In both systems ripe berries exhibited better activity potential than the unripe ones.