| dc.description.abstract | Essential oils are natural compounds containing an amount of complex mixtures of
volatile compounds. This study was carried out to determine the antioxidant and
antimicrobial activities of essential oils extracted from leaves of different citrus
varieties. Essential oils of Long An lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle), Xoan orange
(Citrus sinensis Osbeck) and Tan Trieu pomelo (Citrus grandis Osbeck) were
extracted by hydro-distillation method. The antimicrobial activities were tested by
diffusion method and dilution method. Essential oil of pomelo leaves was the
strongest among all with big zones of inhibition (25.38 ± 0.38mm, 24.41 ±
0.38mm, 24.17 ± 0.29mm) and low minimum inhibitory concentration
(21.5mg/ml, 21.5mg/ml, 10.75mg/ml) against Staphylococcus aureus, Samonella
typhimurium and Bacillus cereus. On the other hand, essential oil of orange leaves
was considered as the weakest one because of no inhibition against Pseudomonas
aeruginosa. The antioxidant activities of these essential oils were determined by
2,2-diphenyl–1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and Ferric Thiocyanate (FTC) assay.
The antioxidant activities of essential oil of pomelo leaves, in contrast to
antimicrobial activities, were reported to be the weakest among all (with 2.142 ±
0.003mg/ml and 36.84 ± 0.22mg/ml of half inhibition concentration). Essential oil
of lime leaves was found to be the strongest in antioxidant activities (with 1.209 ±
0.003mg/ml and 30.34 ± 1.03mg/ml of half inhibition concentration). According to
the results, essential oils extracted from leaves of different Citrus varieties may
have different antimicrobial and antioxidant activities.
Key words: essential oil, Citrus leaves, hydro-distillation, antimicrobial activities,
antioxidant activities | en_US |
