The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative evaluation of some biological properties of methanol and water extracts of leaves of five Juniperus taxa growing in Turkey: J. communis L. var. communis (Jcc), J. communis L. var. saxatilis Pall. (Jcs), J. drupacea Labill. (Jd), J. oxycedrus L. subsp. oxycedrus (Joo), J. oxycedrus L. subsp. macrocarpa (Sibth. & Sm.) Ball. (Jom). The antioxidant properties were examined in vitro; both in the DPPH and in the reducing power tests, Joo methanol extract resulted the most active (IC50 = 0.09 ± 0.01mg/mL and ASE/mL = 2.56 ± 0.06). In the TBA assay, Jcs methanol extract exhibited the highest activity (IC50 = 4.39 ± 0.47 μg/mL). The extracts displayed bacteriostatic activity against Staphylococcus aureus, and Jd methanol extract resulted the most effective (MIC = 19.53 μg/mL); no effect on the S. aureus biofilm formation was observed. The extracts resulted non-toxic in the Artemia salina lethality bioassay. Finally, the phenolic profile of the methanol extracts was characterized by HPLC-PDA/ESI-MS.
Keywords: Artemia salina Leach; HPLC-PDA/ESI-MS; Juniperus L.; antimicrobial activity; antioxidant activity; phenolic compounds.