Comparative essential oil composition and bioactivity profiling of Junipers berries from north-western Himalaya, India

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 µg/mL) and J. indica exhibiting the highest ABTS activity (IC50 = 545.28 ± 2.7 µg/mL). Network pharmacology highlighted key targets, including STAT3, ESR1 and NFKB1, linking the EOs to inflammation, neuroprotection and metabolic pathways.