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Antibacterial and antifungal activity of juniper berry oil and its selected components
Author(s) -
Filipowicz Natalia,
Kamiński Marcin,
Kurlenda Julianna,
Asztemborska Monika,
Ochocka J. Renata
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
phytotherapy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.019
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1573
pISSN - 0951-418X
DOI - 10.1002/ptr.1110
Subject(s) - juniper , berry , antimicrobial , antifungal , essential oil , traditional medicine , antibacterial activity , pharmacognosy , chemistry , adulterant , botany , biology , food science , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , biological activity , bacteria , chromatography , biochemistry , in vitro , genetics
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 specic composition of the oil A (highest concentration of (−)‐ α ‐pinene, p‐cymene and β ‐pinene) or activity of a single non‐identied compound. The presence of an adulterant in the oil was excluded. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.