## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Essential Oil Composition  
The chemical compositions of the essential oils obtained from lemon peels, clove buds, and juniper berries by steam distillation are presented in Table 1. The GC-MS analysis indicated that the essential oils obtained were a mixture of various compounds, which mainly included mono- and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and their oxygenated derivatives. Among the 120 identified components representing 96.59-99.54% of the total oils, 34, 47, and 72 belonged to the etheric oil obtained from clove buds, lemon peels, and juniper berries, respectively. Monoterpene hydrocarbons (68.53%) and oxygenated monoter-penes (24.78%) were the dominant group in the oil samples from lemon peels. However, the content of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons in these samples was relatively low (4.09%). The essential oil from juniper berries also had abundant monoterpenes (hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes) which accounted for 54.66% of the total. Sesquiterpenes (38.25%) and several nonterpene components, such as 2,3-hexanedione and hydroxymethyl 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropionate, were also identified in the studied oils. The main components present in the monoterpene hydrocarbon fraction of the essential oil from juniper berries were \(\beta\)-myrcene (6.45%), sabinene (6.19%), \(\alpha\)-pinene (5.71%), limonene (4.78%), p-cymene (3.98%), and \(\beta\)-pinene (3.59%), while \(\alpha\)-thujene (3.12%), \(\alpha\)-terpinene (1.61%), and \(\gamma\)-terpinene (1.81%) were found in lower amounts. Among the oxygen-containing monoterpenes identified in the essential oil from juniper berries, linalool, \(\alpha\)-campholenal, (E)-pinocarveol, \(\alpha\)-phellandren-8-ol, p-cymen-8-ol, and verbenore were dominant. In turn, the sesquiterpene hydrocarbon fraction found in this essential oil consisted of \(\alpha\)-cubebene (1.28%), \(\beta\)-elemene (2.01%), caryophyllene (1.54%), \(\alpha\)-farsemene (1.67%), humulene (3.68%), \(\alpha\)-muvurolene (1.26%), germacerene D (1.54%), \(\beta\)-cubebene (2.88%), \(\gamma\)-amorphene (1.17%), \(\gamma\)-cadinene (1.74%), \(\delta\)-cadinene (3.50%), and germacrene B (1.76%). A study showed that a total of 70 compounds were identified in the essential oils obtained from fresh juniper berries harvested from May 2010 to January 2011 [24]. Depending on the period of harvest of juniper fruits, monoterpene hydrocarbons accounted for 18.91-45.26% of the total volatiles of the obtained essential oils. The juniper berries collected in May had a similar content of monoterpene hydrocarbons as determined in the presented study, but they differed in the amount of the main representatives of this class of compounds. Compared to the content determined in the present study, \(\alpha\)-pinene was at a higher level but sabinene and \(\beta\)-myrcene were identified in lower amounts. Moreover, monoterpene hydrocarbons were predominant in the essential oils isolated by steam distillation from ripe juniper berries collected from both the southwestern and central north regions of the Republic of Macedonia [25]. The main components of the monoterpene hydrocarbon fraction were \(\alpha\)and \(\beta\)-pinene, \(\beta\)-myrcene, sabinene, and limonene. The content of compounds also differed the most in the oils obtained from the Macedonian juniper berries. Two Macedonian samples contained similar levels of \(\beta\)-pinene and sabinene, as determined in our study, whereas the amount of \(\alpha\)-pinene was higher and limonene was slightly lower. The differences in the chemical composition of juniper oils, as well as in the amount of individual components, may be related to the geographical origin of the plant, the degree of ripeness of the berries, and the age of the berries used in the steam distillation [26]. The essential oils obtained from ripe and unripe wild juniper fruits in the Molise region were rich in \(\alpha\)-pinene [24]. However, it has been reported that the amount of this compound may decrease as the fruit ripens.