Bioactivity and chemical profiling of the Juniperus excelsa, which support its usage as a food preservative and nutraceutical

Figures & data

Table 1. Phenolic profile of J. excelsa extracts.

	Content in J. excelsa extracts (μg/g of dw)
Compound	Leaves	seed cones
Phenolic acids
p-Hydroxybenzoic acid	415 ± 18^ab	(1.27 ± 0.06) × 10^3a
2,5-Dihydroxybenzoic acid	568 ± 23.3b	804 ± 43.6a
Protocatechuic acid	396 ± 6.98b	569 ± 29.0a
Vanillic acid	177 ± 2.13b	479 ± 24.2a
Gallic acid	295 ± 8.93b	351 ± 3.41a
Syringic acid	61.5 ± 1.34a	6.29 ± 0.31b
Cinnamic acid	30.6 ± 0.98b	68.4 ± 5.21a
o-Coumaric acid	<5	<5
p-Coumaric acid	302 ± 18.2b	456 ± 42.4a
Caffeic acid	21.3 ± 0.98b	46.2 ± 3.15a
Ferulic acid	241 ± 17.9b	694 ± 4.21a
3,4-Dimethoxycinnamic acid	29.8 ± 0.95	<25
Sinapic acid	<15	<15
5-O-caffeoylquinic acid	84.3 ± 6.45a	9.31 ± 0.45b
Flavonoids
Apigenin	(3.56 ± 0.09) × 10^3b	(6.99 ± 0.05) × 10^3a
Apigenin-7-O-glucoside	(1.39 ± 0.10) × 10^3b	(2.63 ± 0.09) × 10^3a
Apiin	<10	<10
Vitexin	117 ± 10.3b	162 ± 11.9a
Amentoflavone	(4.93 ± 0.20) × 10^3a	(1.09 ± 0.08) × 10^3b
Baicalein	<1000	<1000
Baicalin	<4	<4
Daidzein	<15	<15
Genistein	<50	<50
Isorhamnetin	6.00 ± 0.56a	3.11 ± 0.22b
Kaempferol	14.0 ± 0.98a	6.94 ± 0.07b
Kaempferol-3-O-glucoside	405 ± 32.1a	106 ± 2.00b
Chrysoeriol	33.7 ± 0.53b	50.2 ± 0.10a
Luteolin	65.7 ± 1.24a	64.7 ± 2.23a
Luteolin-7-O-glucoside	623 ± 42.9b	(1.46 ± 0.06) × 10^3a
Quercetin	151.1 ± 0.98a	34.7 ± 0.56b
Quercitrin	(142 ± 0.44) × 10^3a	(50.0 ± 0.36) × 10^3b
Quercetin-3-O-glucoside	(1.66 ± 0.04) × 10^3b	(2.30 ± 0.05) × 10^3a
Hyperoside	<5	<5
Rutin	(14.6 ± 1.3) × 10^3a	(3.87 ± 0.21) × 10^3b
Myricetin	67.8 ± 3.00a	2.28 ± 0.09b
Naringenin	22.6 ± 1.29b	46.6 ± 0.96a
Epicatechin	(11.1 ± 0.19) × 10^3a	(7.36 ± 0.08) × 10^3b
Catechin	(234 ± 0.44) × 10^3a	(56.5 ± 0.43) × 10^3b
Epigallocatechin gallate	<400	<400
Coumarins
Umbelliferone	404 ± 3.43a	3.45 ±0.08b
Aesculetin	1.74 ± 0.08b	5.68 ± 0.11a
Scopoletin	<5	<5
Lignans
Matairesinol	122 ± 9.11b	(4.94 ± 0.08) × 10^3a
Secoisolariciresinol	41.1 ± 0.80a	<35

^a Values are expressed as means ± SD of three measurements. Values within each row with different letters (a, b) differ significantly (p ≤ 0.05).

Table 2. Chemical profile of J. excelsa essential oils.

		Relative concentration (%)
LRI	Compound	Leaves	Seed cones
935	α-pinene	30.9	76.7
979	Β-pinene	0.7	2.4
989	Β-myrcene	0.9	2.5
1012	Δ-3-carene	3.9	0.8
1031	limonene	14.8	5.8
1062	Γ-terpinene	0.4	0.7
1093	α-terpinolene	0.5	0.7
1295	bornyl acetate	nd	0.5
1425	β-funebrene	2.2	0.6
1433	sesquiterpene	0.6	nd
1443	thujopsene	0.5	nd
1459	muurola-3,5-dien	0.2	nd
1480	trans-cadina-1(6),4-diene	0.4	nd
1491	germacrene D	1.1	nd
1491	tran-–muurola-4(14),5-diene	nd	0.7
1503	sesquiterpene	1.0	nd
1524	sesquiterpene	0.5	nd
1529	δ–cadinene	0.8	nd
1612	salvia-4(14)-en-1-one	2.4	0.4
1625	cedrol	37.4	7.7
1645	1-epi-cubenol	0.3	nd
2135	abietadien	0.2	0.5
	monoterpene hydrocarbons	52.1	89.6
	oxygenated monoterpenes	0.0	0.5
	sesquiterpene hydrocarbons	41.5	7.7
	oxygenated sesquiterpene	5.9	1.7
	diterpenes	0.2	0.5
	total	99.7	100.0

nd, not detected.

Table 3. Total phenolics and flavonoid content, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities of extracts and essential oils of J. excelsa and standard compounds.

		J. excelsa extracts		J. excelsa essential oils
		leaves	seed cones	leaves	seed cones	Standards
Content	Total phenolics (mg gallic acid equivalents/g of dw)	187.73 ± 16.99^aa	94.71 ± 8.16 b	NA^b	NA	–
	Total flavonoids (mg quercetin equivalents/g of dw)	48.81 ± 4.18a	30.54 ± 2.92 b	NA	NA	–
Antioxidant activity	IC50 values (μg/mL for extracts and standard; nL/mL for essential oils)	Leaves	seed cones	leaves	seed cones	BHA
	DPPH^•	3.45 ± 0.21a	5.28 ± 0.16 b	(16.10 ± 1.01) × 10^3 d	(20.36 ± 2.62) × 10^3 d	12.39 ± 1.15 c
	HO^•	191.36 ± 7.71a	649.51 ± 44.79 c	na^c	na	301.05 ± 22.63 b
	O2^•–	41.45 ± 2.81a	54.50 ± 0.71 b	na	na	na
	^•NO	(0.51 ± 0.05) × 10^3a	(0.55 ± 0.03) × 10^3 a	na	na	na
	LP	40.41 ± 4.12b	249.16 ± 17.14 c	43.89 ± 5.10 b	59.82 ± 9.00 b	24.12 ± 2.52 a
	reducing power
	FRAP (mg of ascorbic acid equivalents /g of dw)	132.18 ± 11.25b	86.73 ± 2.95c	na	na	1057.24 ± 78.10 a
Anti–inflammatory activity	IC50 values (μg/mL for extracts and standard; nL/mL for essential oils)	leaves	seed cones	leaves	seed cones	aspirin	quercetin
	COX–1 pathway
	12–HHT	(2.74 ± 0.03) × 10^3 f	(1.57 ± 0.49) × 10^3 e	154.70 ± 7.83 c	490.94 ± 12.36 d	4.98 ± 0.43 a	22.45 ± 2.12 b
	TXB2	na	na	186.66 ± 8.24 d	408.57 ± 1.07 c	4.98 ± 0.06 a	53.69 ± 2.47 b
	PGE2	na	na	220.78 ± 4.20 d	517.30 ± 10.92 c	5.58 ± 0.53 a	12.75 ± 0.26 b
	12–LOX pathway
	12–HETE	(2.68 ± 0.26) × 10^3 e	(1.41 ± 0.16) × 10^3 d	132.14 ± 5.98 b	467.54 ± 0.64 c	na	7.44 ± 0.65 a

^a Values are means ± SD of three measurements. Means within each row with different letters (a–f) differ significantly (p ≤ 0.05).

^b NA, not applicable.

^c na, 50% inhibition not achieved.

Table 4. Antimicrobial activity of J. excelsa essential oils.

				Test microorganisms
Applied assay		Tested sample		S. aureus	C. perfringens	A. baumannii	E. coli	S. Enteritidis
Disc diffusion assay	Inhibition zone diameter (mm)	Essential oil	leaves	22.0 ± 0.0^a c	24.0 ± 0.0 b	8.0 ± 1.6 c	8.7 ± 1.5 c	8.7 ± 0.6 c
			seed cones	14.7 ± 1.2 d	18.7 ± 0.6 d	abs^b	abs	abs
		ceftriaxone^c		32.0 ± 0.0 a	30.5 ± 0.4 a	14.3 ± 0.3 b	27.7 ± 1.9 a	24.7 ± 0.3 a
		amikacin^c		28.0 ± 1.0 b	21.0 ± 0.0 c	21.3 ± 0.3 a	20.0 ± 0.0 b	19.7 ± 0.3 b
Agar dilution assay	Minimal inhibitory concentration (μL/mL for essential oil; mg/mL for amikacin)	Essential oil	leaves	4 b	16 b	> 16	> 16	> 16
			seed cones	8 c	16 b	> 16	> 16	> 16
		amikacin		0.004 a	0.008 a	0.004	0.004	0.002

^a Values are means ± SD of three measurements. Means within each column with different letters (a–d) differ significantly (p ≤ 0.05).

^b abs, absence of inhibition zone.

^c disc activity 30 µg.