Growth-inhibiting Effects of Juniperus virginiana Leaf-Extracted Components toward Human Intestinal Bacteria

The growth responses of materials extracted from Juniperus virginiana leaves against Bifidobacterium bifidum, B. longum, Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei, and Streptococcus mutans were examined using impregnated paper disk agar diffusion. The biologically active constituent isolated from the J. virginiana extracts was characterized as ${\alpha}$-cedrene using various spectroscopic analyses including IR, EI-MS, and NMR. The responses varied according to the dose, chemicals, and bacterial strain tested. Methanol extracts of J. virginiana leaves exhibited a strong and moderate inhibitory activity against C. perfringens and E. coli at 5 mg/disk, respectively. However, in tests conducted with B. bifidum, B. longum, L. acidophilus, L. casei, and S. mutans, the methanol extracts showed no or weak inhibitory response. At 2 mg/disk, a-cedrene strongly inhibited the growth of C. perfringens and moderately inhibited the growth of E. coli and S. mutans, without any adverse effects on the growth of four lactic acid-bacteria. Of the commercially available compounds originating from J. virginiana leaves, cedrol and ${\alpha}$-pinene exhibited strong and moderate growth inhibition against C. perfringens, and ${\alpha}$-copaene revealed moderate growth inhibition against E. coli at 1 mg/disk. Furthermore, cedrol exhibited moderate and weak growth inhibition against S. mutans at 2 and 1 mg/disk, respectively. However, little or no activity was observed for camphene, (+)-2-carene, p-cymene, limonene, linalool, and a-phellandrene against B. bifidum, B. longum, C. perfringens, L. acidophilus, L. casei, and S. mutans at 2 mg/disk. The observed inhibitory activity of the J. virginiana leaf-extracted materials against C. perfringens, E. coli, and S. mutans may be an indication of at least one of the pharmacological actions of the J. virginiana leaf.