Mechanisms and Applications of Citral’s Antimicrobial Properties in Food Preservation and Pharmaceuticals Formulations

Abstract

Citral is a monoterpene constituted by two isomers known as neral and geranial. It is present in different plant sources and recognized as safe (GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In recent years, investigations have demonstrated that this compound exhibited several biological activities, such as antibacterial, antifungal, antibiofilm, antiparasitic, antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties, by in vitro and in vivo assays. Additionally, when incorporated into different food matrices, citral can reduce the microbial load of pathogenic microorganisms and extend the shelf life. This compound has acceptable drug-likeness properties and does not present any violations of Lipinski’s rules, which could be used for drug development. The above shows that citral could be a compound of interest for developing food additives to extend the shelf life of animal and vegetable origin foods and develop pharmaceutical products.

Carvacrol, citral, eugenol and cinnamaldehyde casein based edible nanoemulsions as novel sustainable active coatings for fresh pork tenderloin meat preservation

“…The FDA has given it GRAS status, making it a popular citrus-based flavoring agent in consumer products (Gutiérrez-Pacheco et al, 2023). Furthermore, eugenol, the major component of clove oil, is metabolized into glucuronides and sulphates and because of the damage is caused in the microbial cell walls and membranes it is considered as a valuable antimicrobial agent (Goñi et al, 2016;Gutiérrez-Pacheco et al, 2023). Eugenol it is also considered as GRAS (Gooderham et al, 2020).…”