Mineral composition, the profile of phenolic compounds, organic acids, sugar and in vitro antioxidant capacity, and antimicrobial activity of organic extracts of Juniperus drupacea fruits

Juniperus drupacea fruit is widely used in traditional and complementary medicine in Turkey for the treatment of different diseases in various forms such as molasses and tar. This study was carried out to evaluate the phenolic compounds, organic acid, sugar, and macro-and micromineral distributions of methanol and water extracts of J. drupace fruit, as well as their antioxidant and antimicrobial potential. For this purpose, total phenolic content by spectrophotometer, phenolics, organic acids, and sugars distributions by HPLC in extracts of J. drupacea fruits, and macro-and micromineral element content by ICP-AES in fruit were determined. 2,2-diphenyl- l- picrylhydrazyl assay (DPPH assay) was used to evaluate in vitro antioxidant activity in extracts. The antimicrobial potential of J. drupacea fruit methanol extract against some gram-positive and gram-negative pathogenic bacteria was evaluated using disk diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) methods. The potassium macroelement and the iron microelement were found at high content in J. drupacea fruit. The total phenolic content in the methanol extracts was higher than the water extracts. Among the individual phenolic compounds, catechin, a flavonoid that was the highest in both extractions, was determined as 300.49 mu g/g in methanol extract and 314.88 mu g/g in water extract. DPPH scavenging activity was higher in methanol extracts. While the methanol extract of J. drupacea had no-inhibitory effect on the gram-negative bacteria tested, it exhibited a strong inhibition on the gram-positive bacteria Listeria innocua, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus carnosus, and Enterococcus faecalis.

Automated summary

This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of phenolic compounds, organic acids, sugars, and macro- and micro-minerals in methanol and water extracts of Juniperus drupacea fruit, as well as their antioxidant and antimicrobial potential. The results showed that the fruit had high levels of potassium and iron, and the methanol extracts had higher phenolic content compared to water extracts. Catechin, a flavonoid, was the most abundant phenolic compound. The methanol extracts exhibited stronger DPPH scavenging activity and inhibitory effects on gram-positive bacteria.