Comparative chemical composition, antioxidant and hypoglycaemic activities of Juniperus oxycedrus ssp. oxycedrus L. berry and wood oils from Lebanon

Juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus) is used in European cuisine for its distinguishing flavour. J. oxycedrus ssp. oxycedrus berry and woodessential oils were tentatively identified by GC and GC/MS. Fifty compounds were identified in the berry oil and 23 compounds wereidentified in the wood oil. The J. oxycedrus ssp. oxycedrus berry oil was characterised by high contents of a-pinene (27.4%) and b-myrcene(18.9%). Other important compounds were a-phellandrene (7.1%), limonene (6.7%), epi-bicyclosesquiphellandrene (2.3%) andd-cadinene (2.2%) while, in the wood oil, d-cadinene (14.5%) is a major main component, together with cis-thujopsene (9.2%) and amuurolene(4.9%). In vitro evaluation of antioxidant activity by the DPPH method showed a significant activity for both oils withIC50 values of 1.45 ul/ml for wood and 7.42 ul/ml for berries. Hypoglycaemic activity was investigated through the inhibition of alpha-amylase.The results revealed that oil obtained by hydrodistillation from J. oxycedrus ssp. oxycedrus wood exhibits an interesting activity withIC50 of 3.49 ul/ml.