CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF ESSENTIAL OIL FROM JUNIPERUS PHOENICEA SUBSP PHOENICEA BERRIES FROM JORDAN

Juniperus phoenicea L. (Cupressaceae) is an evergreen small tree or shrub, distributed throughout the Mediterranean area from Portugal to Israel and North Africa. J. phoenicea has been used for centuries in traditional medicine and its berries are widely used in flavours, perfumes, and to aromatize alcoholic beverages. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the chemical composition and antifungal activity of essential oils of Juniperus phoenicea berries from Jordan. The essential oils of the berries were isolated by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC and GC-MS. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal lethal concentration (MLC) were used to evaluate the antifungal activity of the essential oils against dermatophytes, yeasts and Aspergillus species. The essential oils were characterized by high percentage of a-pinene (75.5 and 84.2%), which distinguish them from oils from other countries where a-pinene is usually present in lower percentages. Essential oils exhibited high antifungal activity against dermatophytes and Cryptococcus neoformans with MIC values ranging from 0.32-2.5 mu l ml(-1). These results support that essential oils from J. phoenicea berries may be useful in the treatment of dermatophytosis. Further studies should be stimulated in order to evaluate toxicity and optimal concentrations for clinical applications.