Juniper EO
Juniper Berry CO2 - Organic - Eden Botanicals
Organic Juniper Berry Essential Oil - Eden Botanicals
Juniper Leaf / Branch Essential Oil from Slovenia - Eden Botanicals
Juniper berry EO contains 5% beta caryophyllene
Antimycobacterial potential of the juniper berry essential oil in tap water
Juniper Berry essential oil (Bulgaria)
Juniper essential oil when diluted in a bath or blended with massage oil relieves nervous tension and calms the nerves. It also helps in bladder problems (inability to pass urine) associated with multiple sclerosis. It can also be used in cases of cystitis, , gout, psoriasis and dandruff
Sore Muscles and Joints: Dilute about 10 drops of juniper essential oil in 100 drops of Olive oil. Rub on the painful area
How to use Juniper EO for Joint Pain
This oil has antiseptic, astringent, healing and vulnerary properties making it very convenient for the external treatment of skin abnormalities, especially in regard to the following conditions:
Acne: In addition to alpha-pinene and alpha-terpineol, oil acne contains other components such as zinc, selenium, chromium, beta carotene and camphor. (Diluted about 10 drops of essential oil in a glass of water. Wet a towel with the liquid to the affected area for acne)
Eczema: The previous treatment may be appropriate to remedy eczema.
Dermatitis: Apply the same treatment in case of dermatitis.
Essential oil lotion is made with equal parts of juniper essential oil, rosewater, and witch hazel for oily skin and acne.
Antibacterial and antifungal activity of juniper berry oil and its selected components.
Essential oils as kidney irritants
Juniper "Berries" (Juniperus communis ssp. communis) and the essential oil derived from them, have long been indicated as a useful diuretic.
However, since the late 1800's onwards, Juniper essential oil (and other high-terpene hydrocarbon containing essential oils, such as in various Pinus species) has been suggested to be a kidney irritant, that should not be used on a long-term basis nor during acute kidney disease. Such statements are still mentioned in a number of Aromatherapy texts.
It appears that the origin of these statements came from the use of large, fatal doses of Juniper oil being given to dogs. Such high doses cause clouding of the urine, which was then assumed to be due to kidney damage. It appears, though, that such cloudiness was simply due to the presence of large quantities of Juniper oil metabolites.
More recent studies using laboratory rats have found no kidney damage, even when high oral doses of Juniper oil were given.
The authors hypothesized that the reputation of Juniper oil as a kidney irritant may have come from the use of essential oils containing high levels of the monoterpene hydrocarbons, α & β-pinene. The Juniper oil used in the study was said to have low levels of pinenes.
This study does highlight the non-irritancy of Juniper Berry oil. But the further hypothesis regarding the irritancy of pinenes does appear to be unfounded.
Both Juniper Berry and Juniper branches/berries essential oil contain significant amounts of α & β-pinene, as well as other terpene hydrocarbons (Juniper Berry - α-pinene up to 46%, sabinene up to 28%, myrcene up to 8% and Juniper branches/berries - α-pinene from 40 to 90%, sabinene from 10 to 40%). (67) Given such similarities in terpene hydrocarbon content, such a hypothesis is not supported. (Source)
The potential nephrotoxic effects of essential juniper oil
Antimicrobial Activity and Chemical Analysis of the Essential Oil of Algerian Juniperus phoenicea.
The essential oils of Juniperus phoenicea L. from Algeria were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. Concerning their chemical composition, 74, 61 and 72 volatile compounds were identified from fresh leaves, dried leaves and berries, representing 88.8%, 91.3% and 94.7% of the total composition, respectively. The main monoterpene in the oils of fresh leaves, dried leaves and berries was a-pinene (29.6% / 55.9% / 56.6%), accompanied by lesser amounts of the sesquiterpenes β-caryophyllene (2.6% / 1.6% /1.2%) and germacrene D (2.01% / 1.7% / 1.5%), respectively. Antibacterial activity of J. phoenicea essential oils was tested against one Gram-negative and four Gram-positive bacterial strains and the yeast Candida albicans, responsible for nosocomial infections. As references, 14 antibiotics and 5 antifungal agents were evaluated. The berry essential oil was ineffective against all but two of the strains tested, whereas the essential oil of dried leaves significantly inhibited all strains but Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which turned out to be the most resistant strain overall. However, Escherichia coli was the most susceptible to the essential oils tested. The essential oil of dry leaves was highly active against Candida albicans, outclassing even the standard antifungal substances. These promising results could substantiate the use of essential oils in the treatment of hospital-acquired infections.
The evidence from this study suggests that essential oils obtained from the fruits and branchlets of J. communis subsp. hemisphaerica possess anti-glycation properties. These activities may find implication for the prevention and treatment of diabetic complications.