Antimicrobial Properties of the Essential Oil of Juniperus communis (L.) Growing Wild in East Part of Kosovo

Abstract

Antimicrobial activity and chemical composition of the essential oil of Juniperus communis (L.), originated from east part of Kosova, was investigated. The essential oil from berries of J. communis (L.), obtained by hydro-distillation was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Antimicrobial properties of the essential oil of J. communis (L.) are investigated and results are submitted for their activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Hafnia alvei and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Applying the agar disc diffusion technique, we measured diameters of the inhibition zone around discs, which are previously wetted with DMF solution of the essential oil with three different concentrations, 1, 3 and 5 mg mL^-1. Analysis of the oil resulted in the identification of 41 peaks, representing 96% of the oil. Berry essential oil composed mainly of monoterpenoids which amounted to 83%, of which 69.4% was monoterpene hydrocarbons. The main monoterpene hydrocarbons were α-pinene (36.2%) and β-myrcene (21.1%). The sesquiterpene accounted for about 13.4% of the total oil composition. Germacrene D (2.2%), α-cadinol (1.6%), α-humulene (1.5%), spathulenol (1.4%), epi-α-bisabolol (1.3%) and germacrene B (1.1%) were the main constituents of the sesquiterpenes. The inhibition zone depends from concentrations and also from sort of bacteria. The inhibition zones differ from 0-39 mm. The present work presents the chemical composition of the hydrodistilled oil of J. communis (L.) from East part of Kosova and the results are compared to those reported in the literature. This study demonstrates the occurrence of α-pinene chemotype of J. communis (L.) from east part of Kosova. The essential oil of J. communis (L.) growing wild in Kosova, showed moderate to high activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Hafnia alvei. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is resistant to the essential oil of J. communis (L.) growing wild in east part of Kosova.