International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies ISSN 2028-9324 Vol. 13 No. 4 Dec. 2015, pp. 881-889 © 2015 Innovative Space of Scientific Research Journals http://www.ijias.issr-journals.org/ Corresponding Author: Smail AMALICH 881 Chemical Characterization and Antibacterial Evaluation of Juniperus phoenicea L. Leaves and Fruits’ Essential Oils from Eastern High Atlas (Morocco) Smail AMALICH 1 , Nadia ZEKRI 1 , N’Dédianhoua K. SORO 1 , Kamal FADILI 1 , Youssef KHABBAL 2 , Malika MAHJOUBI 1 , EL Hassan AKDIM 1 , and Touriya ZAÏR 1 1 Laboratory of bioactive molecules Chemistry and environment, Moulay Ismail University of Sciences –Meknes, Morocco 2 Laboratory of Medical and pharmacy scool pharmacology, Fez, LCAM, HASSAN II University, Hospital Pharmacovigilance, Center of Fez, Morocco Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT: Aromatic and medicinal plants are a great source of complex molecules exploited by mankind in many industrial fields. Currently, the increasing use of natural occurring compounds has been observed and this fact justifies the increasing production of certain medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP). In this work, we were interested to valorize Juniperus phoenicea, a native species from Moroccan Eastern High Atlas (Tounfite). This plant is used in traditional medicine for its medicinal properties to treat many infectious diseases. J. phoenicea’s leaves and fruits harvested in the flowering period (October 2013) have been subjected to hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The yields of extracted essential oils (EOs) are about 1.71% and 2.01% respectively for leaves and fruits. Analysis of the chemical composition of both EOs (from leaves and fruits), by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, has shown their richness in monoterpenes (81.05% and 51.73%) and sesquiterpenes (13.71% and 38.08%). Both EOs are widely dominated by α-pinene (78.11% - 48.18% respectively). Antimicrobial activity of these oils was evaluated against four clinical strains: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The results have shown that P. aeruginosa and S. aureus strains are sensitive to leaves’ EO with inhibition areas that reached 23 mm and 26 mm respectively. The same minimum inhibitory concentration of 5.60µl/ml was found. These two strains are also sensitive to fruits’ EO with inhibition zones of 19 mm and 11.50 mm and the minimum inhibitory concentrations are 11.20µl/ml and 2.40µl/ml respectively. In conclusion, fruits of J. phoenicea were richer in essential oils than its leaves with very high dominance of α- pinene. For the antimicrobial activity, EO from J. phoenicea’s leaves, richer in monoterpenes, has been more effective against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus than the one extracted from the fruits. Nevertheless, both organs of J. phoenicea (leaves and fruits) showed a moderate antibacterial activity against the tested microorganisms. KEYWORDS: Juniperus phoenicea, α-pinene, Essential oils, antibacterial activity, bacterial strains. 1 INTRODUCTION Medicinal plants remain undeniably a major source of drugs, either because their constituents are valuable active ingredients, or because chemists were able to change the structure of certain molecules they contain in order to make them less toxic, more effective or to give them a better bioavailability. Currently, about 25% of modern drugs are developed from plants [1]. Indeed, the use of essential oils (EOs) is increasingly widespread since they are considered as natural products of high value. They exhibit pharmacological properties both at human and industrial scales; they have important applications in medicine, either by their good smell or their physiological efficacy or their capacity to relieve pain. Juniperus (Cupressaceae) genus contains about seventy-five species grouped into three sections. The Caryocedrus section, in which we find only one species, is limited to the Eastern hemisphere [2], [3]. The Juniperus section which contains fourteen species: twelve only in the Eastern hemisphere, one endemic in North America and one species (J. communis) is circumboreal