Difference between revisions of "Juniperus Phoenicea"

Latest revision as of 09:50, 20 August 2017

Juniperus Phoenicea

Other Names : Phoenicean juniper, Arâr
a shrub or small evergreen tree, characterised by scaled leaves and berry-like fleshy fruits red to brown in colour. It occurs in patchy and often isolated populations over the whole Mediterranean region, included Morocco and Portugal, Canary and Madeira Islands, Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea, and grows principally on coastal dunes and cliffs, but also in mountain populations up to 2400 m.
See also : Juniperus Communis

Special Precautions of Juniperus phoenicea

Health Benefits and Uses of Juniperus phoenicea

• In Egypt around 1500BC was the first recorded use of using the Juniperus phoenicea medicinally, which was to relieve joint and muscle pain.
• In Algerian folk medicine, the leaves are used in various ways to treat diabetes, diarrhea, rheumatism, and bronco-pulmonary disease. They can also be used as a diuretic. The leaves and berries combined can be used to combat diabetes as well in both Algerian and Moroccan medicine.
• In Jordanian traditional medicine, bronchitis and arthritis are treated by a steam inhalant of this plant.
• Additionally, the leaves and berries are used to treat diabetes mellitus, edema, and urinary tract problems. Specifically, extracts from the leaves are also used to treat gout.
• The leaves and berries are used in Tunisian folk medicine to treat diarrhea, rheumatism, acute gonococcal infection, eczema, dysmenorrhea, and sunstroke.
• In various medicine traditions, the essential oils are used to aid digestion because they assist the flow of digestive fluids, therefore improving digestion, as well as eliminating gas and stomach cramping.
• In descending order of concentration, these essential elements are found in this plant: Ca, K, Fe, Na, Zn, Cr, Co. Likewise, these are the toxic elements: Br, As, Sb. In trace amounts, these other elements are also found in this plant: Ba, Ce, La, Lu, Rb, Sc, Sm, and Yb.
• The tree's essential oil is especially rich in the tricyclic sesquiterpene thujopsene; the heartwood contains an estimated 2.2% of this hydrocarbon. The biochemist Jarl Runeburg noted in 1960 that "Juniperus phoenicea appears to be the most convenient source of thujopsene so far encountered." These essential oils used to be used in cosmetics, and have been shown to protect the liver as well.
• Liver protection : aqueous extract of the berries has shown hepatoprotective effects in rats that were given Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) to induce liver damage. The presence of the aqueous extract of the Juniperus phoenicea berries prevented significant hepatocyte damage, and even showed signs of assisting the hepatocyte regeneration process. Additionally, it raised the levels of plasma, total protein, and albumin, which also shows hepatoprotective properties. It has also been show to reverse an imbalance of oxidant and pro-oxidant enzymes, which causes the amount of antioxidant enzymes to return to normal levels. The administration of CCl4 damages the structure of hepatic cells, and the aqueous berry extract improves the structure, which further indicates hepatoprotectivity
• Antioxidant : Extracts of the fruit dissolved in different solvents show a significant antioxidant effect. 70% inhibition was demonstrated, which is as strong as some current synthetic antioxidants.
• Antibacterial and Antifungal : a solvent composed of 90% acetone, 9.5% water, and 0.5% acetic acid with the fruit extract showed significant antibacterial properties. It has been suggested that these extracts could be used for preservation purposes with food or pharmaceutical products. The essential oils have also been shown to reduce the growth of two fungi, Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium oxysporum. These antimicrobial properties indicate further potential for use by humans in preservatives and combating infectious diseases.
• Diabetes and obesity : Essential oils from the leaves have been shown to inhibit the activity of enzymes related to Type-2 diabetes and obesity, namely α-amylase and pancreatic lipase. This is likely caused by the terpenoids in the essential oil.
• Cancer : Both berry and leaf oil have shown strong anti-tumor properties. The berry oil works best against brain tumors and lung carcinoma, secondarily against liver carcinoma and breast carcinoma, and finally also against cervix carcinoma. The leaf oil works about as well as the berry oil against brain tumor and cervix carcinoma, and secondarily as well against lung carcinoma, liver tumor, and breast carcinoma

References

• González, A. Gastón; García-Viñas, J. I.; Saura, S.; Caudullo, G.; de Rigo, D. (2016). "Juniperus thurifera in Europe: distribution, habitat, usage and threats" (PDF). European Atlas of Forest Tree Species. European Commission.
• [Farjon, A. 2013. Juniperus phoenicea. (errata version published in 2015) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T16348983A84426008. Downloaded on 20 April 2017. Farjon, A. 2013. Juniperus phoenicea. (errata version published in 2015) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T16348983A84426008. Downloaded on 20 April 2017.]
• Kabiel, Hanan F.; Hegazy, Ahmad K.; Lovett-Doust, Lesley; Al-Rowaily, Saud L.; Al Borki, Abd El-Nasser S. (2016). "Ecological assessment of populations of Juniperus phoenicea L. In the Al-Akhdar mountainous landscape of Libya". Arid Land Research and Management. 30 (3): 269–89. doi:10.1080/15324982.2015.1090499.
• Knoll, Aaron (2015-09-17). Gin: The Art and Craft of the Artisan Revival. Jacqui Small LLP. ISBN 9781910254431.
• "Research paper: Juniperus phoenicea L. from Jordan". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
• Stephenson, Tristan (2016-05-12). The Curious Bartender's Gin Palace. Ryland Peters & Small. ISBN 9781849759052.
• Nedjimi, Bouzid; Beladel, Brahim; Guit, Brahim (2015). "Multi-element determination in medicinal Juniper tree (Juniperus phoenicea) by instrumental neutron activation analysis". Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences. 8 (2): 243–6. doi:10.1016/j.jrras.2015.01.009.
• Hayouni, E; Abedrabba, M; Bouix, M; Hamdi, M (2007). "The effects of solvents and extraction method on the phenolic contents and biological activities in vitro of Tunisian Quercus coccifera L. And Juniperus phoenicea L. Fruit extracts". Food Chemistry. 105 (3): 1126–34. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.02.010.
• Laouar, Amel; Klibet, Fahima; Bourogaa, Ezzeddine; Benamara, Amel; Boumendjel, Amel; Chefrour, Azzedine; Messarah, Mahfoud (2017). "Potential antioxidant properties and hepatoprotective effects of Juniperus phoenicea berries against CCl 4 induced hepatic damage in rats". Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine. doi:10.1016/j.apjtm.2017.03.005.
• Keskes, Henda; Mnafgui, Kais; Hamden, Khaled; Damak, Mohamed; El Feki, Abdelfattah; Allouche, Noureddine (2014). "In vitro anti-diabetic, anti-obesity and antioxidant proprieties of Juniperus phoenicea L. Leaves from Tunisia". Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine. 4: S649–S655. doi:10.12980/APJTB.4.201414B114.
• Mazari, Khadidja; Bendimerad, Nassima; Bekhechi, Chahrazed; Fernandez, Xavier (2010). "Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oils isolated from Algerian Juniperus phoenicea L. and Cupressus sempervirens L.". Journal of Medicinal Plants Research. 4 (10): 959–64. doi:10.5897/JMPR10.169 (inactive 2017-04-22).
• El-Sawi, SA; Motawae, HM; Ali, AM (2008). "Chemical Composition, Cytotoxic Activity and Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oils of Leaves and Berries of Juniperus Phoenicea L. Grown in Egypt". African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines. 4 (4): 417–26. PMC 2816504 Freely accessible. PMID 20161910. doi:10.4314/ajtcam.v4i4.31236.