Chemical constituents, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of essential oil of Citrus limetta var. Mitha (sweet lime) peel in Pakistan

Abstract

The essential peel oil of Citrus limetta var. Mitha (Sweet lime) extracted by hydro-distillation was assessed for chemical constituents, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. Gas chromatographic analysis identified 17 constituents among which limonene (95.98 %) was found as major component followed by camphene (1.79 %), while the remaining terpenes were less than 1%. The results of antimicrobial activity of essential oil tested by disc diffusion method, against different against bacteria and fungi showed that it exhibited maximum zone of inhibition against Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 (28 mm) and Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 (26 mm) followed by Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 (21 mm), where as the minimum zone of inhibition was shown by Fusarium oxysporum ATCC 48122 (11 mm) after 48 h of incubation at their respective temperature (37°C for bacteria and 25°C for fungi). The inhibition zones, measured after 48 and 96 h, showed that it was active against all tested bacteria and fungi. The results of its antioxidant activity showed that it was able to reduce the stable radical 1diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) to yellow-colored DPPH-H reaching 87.77% of DPPH scavenging effect at its 100% concentration comparative to ascorbic acid as reference standard being a strong antioxidant reagent. The results of our study showed that essential oil of C. limetta var. Mitha peel can be an effective medicine against different pathogenic microbes.

"Chemical Profile and Biological Potential of Tunisian Citrus Limetta Essential Oil: Preliminary Study"

“…Our result showed that the average of three measurements of the extraction yield of EO from zests of fresh Citrus limetta fruits grown in Tunisia (Ras Jebel, Northeast coast), harvest in March at maturity stage and measured after a 3-hour hydro distillation is 0.86±0.11 % calculated onfresh weight (Foschi R, et al [11]). This result was higher than obtained in Tahran (Kamaliroostaa L, et al [12]) and in Pakistan (Javed S, et al [13]) studies which reported an average yield of 0.54% and 0.313%, respectively, for Citrus limetta EO. Mexico study reported also a lower yield of 0.26±0.02% from steam distillation of C limetta mature fruits (86).…”

Encapsulation of Polymethoxyflavones in Citrus Oil Emulsion-Based Delivery Systems

“…Citrus oils are widely used as flavoring agents in beverages, confectionaries, pastries, and cosmetics because of their desirable flavor profiles . However, they also exhibit a number of other functional attributes that can be utilized in commercial products, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and larvicidal effects. − In our previous studies, the utilization of orange oil as a carrier oil to encapsulate bioactive compounds showed higher loading capacity, lower droplet size, and higher physical stability than other types of carrier oil. , PMFs naturally exist in the oil gland of citrus peels, which suggests that citrus oils are a good solvent for PMFs. Therefore, we hypothesized that citrus oils would be particularly suitable for formulating emulsion-based delivery systems for PMFs.…”

Evaluation of the antimicrobial effects of Capsicum, Nigella sativa, Musa paradisiaca L., and Citrus limetta: A review

“…Citrus peel has been discovered to have thousands more phenolic compounds than citrus pulp (Dutta et al, 2020a), and these phenolic compounds (444.55-502.54 mg/L; Buyukkurt et al, 2019) have antimicrobial properties. In a 2009 study, Kekuda et al investigated the antifungal efficacy of the peels of three distinct citrus fruits, C. limetta, C. sinensis, and C. limon, against Aspergillus species, and found that C. limetta was best at preventing the growth of the fungus that was tested (Shabnam et al, 2013).…”