Phytochemical analysis and evaluation of antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of Juniperus phoenicea subsp. phoenicea L. essential oil and hydrolate from central Italy

In this paper Juniperus phoenicea L. leaves essential oil (EO) and hydrolate (Hy) were analyzed, for the first time, by gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) respectively, with the aim to describe their chemical volatile profile. The antimicrobial tests carried out highlighted that the Hy did not show antimicrobial activity on all the sixteen tested strains, while the EO was able to exert a slight inhibitory activity against all S. aureus strains and both inhibitory and cytocidal activity against the E. faecium strains. Noteworthy was the ability to inhibit proinflammatory cytokines by both matrices and, in particular, by the Hy. Furthermore, the study of the antioxidant efficacy of the EO and the Hy carried out on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) and on S. aureus strains, showed that these were able to neutralize the production of ROS in the presence of an oxidizing stimulus. This activity was longer using the EO than the Hy.