Juniperus phoenicea L. Essential Oil from Ain El Orak (Algeria): Chemical Analysis by GC/MS, In Vitro Antioxidant and In Vivo/In Silico Gastroprotective and Hepatoprotective Effects

Juniperus phoenicea L. is a popular plant in alternative medicine, particularly in the steppe and highland regions of western Algeria. The present study focuses on characterizing the essential oil of Juniperus phoenicea growing spontaneously in the Ain El Orak region of El Bayadh province, where it is a valuable resource. The essential oil yield obtained by hydrodistillation was 0.98%, and its characterization by GC-MS revealed 46 compounds, predominantly α-Terpinolene at 21.29%, Limonene at 14.68%, Terpinene 4-ol at 12.04%, β-Myrcene at 9.93%, and β-Pinene at 7.31%. The study of the anti-radical activity against DPPH showed an IC50 value of approximately 0.23 mg/mL. The evaluation of the anti-ulcer property on experimentally induced ulcers in mice through oral administration of ethanol demonstrated excellent protection of the gastric mucosa, with 48.07%, 54.87%, and 81.92% protection for doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, respectively, comparable to omeprazole at 72.40%. The hepatoprotective activity against toxicity induced by intraperitoneal injection of a 250 mg/kg dose of paracetamol in mice showed a protective effect expressed by the decrease in serum levels of AST (260.33 ± 9.69 IU/L) and ALT (56.22 ± 9.63 IU/L) to values comparable to the those of the physiological group, especially for the 300 mg/kg dose of the essential oil of J. phoenicea.