A review of Juniperus rigida Sieb. et Zucc.: a potential supplier of bioactive compounds and medical outcomes

Juniperus rigida Sieb. et Zucc. has been long used as a traditional medicine in China, Korea, and Japan. Diseases like neuralgia, dropsy, gout, brucellosis, dermatitis, nephritis, and rheumatoid arthritis have been treated by J. rigida. According to most studies of the plant, these uses above are mainly attributed to its phytochemical composition, which turns out rich in phenolics, terpenoids, organic acids, alkaloids, and volatile compounds. In recent years, more and more reports are pointing out the bioactive potential of this evergreen shrub in a wide range of different biomedical fields, namely antioxidant, anti-wrinkling, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, anti-cancer, anti-tumor, anti-mutagenicity, anti-obesity, anti-cholinesterase, anti-fungal activities. Despite these promising results, more in vivo and in vitro studies are needed to provide more evidence and methods for its application in cosmetics and pharmacology. Therefore, we conducted the first review on J. rigida, a recalcitrant plant and a promising source of bioactive compounds and medical outcomes, to outline and summarize all the bioactive compounds and biomedical activities reported so far.