TITLE:
Use of Essential Oils of the Genus Citrus as Biocidal Agents
AUTHORS:
Marcos S. Gomes, Maria das G. Cardoso, Maurilio J. Soares, Luís R. Batista, Samísia M. F. Machado, Milene A. Andrade, Camila M. O. de Azeredo, Juliana Maria Valério Resende, Leonardo M. A. Rodrigues
KEYWORDS:
Volatile Essential Oil; Trypanosoma cruzi; Gram-Negative Bactéria; Funghi; Antimicrobial
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.5 No.3,
January
26,
2014
ABSTRACT: In this study, the essential oils extracted from the
peels of Citrus aurantifolia, Citrus limon and Citrus sinensis were chemically characterized and quantified. These
essential oils and their standards limonene, citral and limonene + citral were evaluated (at
concentrations ranging from 500 to 3.91 mL·mL-1) regarding their anti-trypanosome, antifungal and antibacterial
activities. The chemical identification and quantification (by GC/FID and
GC/MS) displayed the limonene as the major component of the three essential
oils. It did not verified anti-trypanosome activity for all treatments. Regarding antimicrobial activity, the results were satisfactory against Gram-negative bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria. monocytogenes and Salmonella
cholerasuis) and funghi (Aspergillus
niger, A. flavus and A. carbonarius), except for the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which showed no
inhibition for any treatment used.