Chemical composition and larvicidal activity of essential oil of the bark of Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck

Abstract

Aim: We determined the chemical composition and larvicidal activity of the essential oil distilled from the Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck husks and the pattern of the major constituent. Materials and methods: For this, we distill the oil by hydrodistillation, identify the components by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), test the larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti and calculate the lethal concentration at 50% (LC50) by the Reed-Muench method and the confidence interval by the Pizzi method for both oil and standard. Results: it showed that the oil consists mostly of limonene and showed larvicidal activity (LC50 of 199.01(± 2.10) μg·mL-1) greater than the lemonade standard (126.03 (± 2.09) μg·mL-1). Conclusion: Therefore, we conclude that distilled oil has the potential to replace chemical larvicides.