Sharma, Ritesh ， Bhardwaj, Rishabh ， Singh, Ashok ， Bhushan, Shashi ， Agnihotri, Vijai K.
2026-03-04 JOURNAL OF ESSENTIAL OIL RESEARCH 2026 38(卷), 2(期), (211-220页)
The genus Juniperus L. (Cupressaceae) comprises about seventy-five aromatic evergreen species. In the Indian Himalayas, Juniperus communis L., Juniperus indica Bertol and Juniperus polycarpos K. Koch are widely distributed in high-altitude cold desert regions, particularly in the Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. Essential oils (EOs) were obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed using GC-MS and GC-FID. Thirty-two compounds were identified, accounting for 95.63%, 96.02% and 91.16% of the EOs of J. communis, J. polycarpos and J. indica, respectively. Limonene was the predominant compound in J. communis (37.27%), whereas sabinene dominated J. polycarpos (71.19%) and J. indica (52.91%). Antioxidant assays revealed notable activity, with J. communis showing the strongest DPPH scavenging (IC50 = 607.36 +/- 9.40 mu g/mL) and J. indica exhibiting the highest ABTS activity (IC50 = 545.28 +/- 2.7 mu g/mL). Network pharmacology highlighted key targets, including STAT3, ESR1 and NFKB1, linking the EOs to inflammation, neuroprotection and metabolic pathways.