title: Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oils of Juniperus excelsa Bieb. (Cupressaceae) grown in R. Macedonia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are no information of the yield, chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oils of berries (EOB) or leaves (EOL) of Juniperus excelsa Bieb. (Cupressaceae) growing wild in R. Macedonia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Plant material was collected from two localities during two seasons. Essential oil composition was analyzed by gas chromatography/flame ionization detector/mass spectrometry (GC/FID/MS) and antimicrobial screening was made by disc diffusion and broth dilution method.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EOB yield ranged from 1.6-9.4 ml/kg and from 8.9-13.9 ml/kg for EOL. Two chemotypes of essential oil were differentiated, α-pinene-type (with 70.81% α-pinene in EOB and 33.83% in EOL), also containing limonene, β-pinene and β-myrcene while the sabinene-type (with 58.85-62.58% sabinene in EOB and 28.52-29.49% in EOL), was rich in α-pinene, β-myrcene, limonene, cis-thujone, terpinolene and α-thujene. The most sensitive bacteria to the antimicrobial activity of EOB was Haemophilus influenzae (MIC = 31 μl/ml). EOL have showed high activity towards: Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Haemophilus influenzae (MIC = 125 μl/ml). The pinene-type of essential oil showed moderate activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Corynebacterium spp. and Campylobacter jejuni (MIC >50%). The sabinene-type of the oil showed moderate activity to Streptococcus pyogenes, Haemopilus influenzae, Campylobacter jejuni and Escherichia coli (MIC >50%). No activity was observed toward Candida albicans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The analysis of EOB and EOL revealed two chemotypes (α-pinene and sabinene type) clearly depended on the geographical origin of the Macedonian Juniperus excelsa which also affected the antimicrobial activity of these oils.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
authors.forename: Floresha
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sela
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karapandzova
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
authors.forename: Gjose
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stefkov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cvetkovikj
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kulevanova
keywords: Antimicrobial activity; Juniperus excelsa; essential oil; gas chromatography/flame ionization detector/mass spectrometry analysis; juniper berries and leaves