Analysis Of The Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Activity Of Essential Oils Of Royal Lemon (Citrus Limonum) Obtained By Two Extraction Methods In Ecuador

Abstract

Citrus fruits are considered one of the major import crops worldwide, because they are grown in more than 140 countries. Being the
lemon the most consumed citrus, the benefits of this citrus are widely known as they help strengthen the immune system in humans.
Therefore, the objective in this research was to extract essential oil from the fruit bark and leaves of Royal lemon (Citrus limonum), by
means of steam entrainment and fractional distillation, then the antimicrobial activity was evaluated by disc-plate diffusion, against the
strains of Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Listeria and Arcobacter. The antioxidant activity of the essential oils obtained by the bleaching
method with β-carotene "bleaching (BCB) test" was also analyzed. Finally, a Gas Chromatography analysis coupled to a Mass
Spectrometer of the best treatment was carried out, to know which compounds are involved in the two bioactive principles
(antimicrobial and antioxidant effect). Once these analyzes were carried out, it was determined that the oils obtained from the leaves of
Royal Lemon have antimicrobial activity against Listeria and Arcobacter, for the antioxidant activity at a concentration of 50 mg/mL
it presents a value of 48.82% and at a concentration of 100 mg/ mL presents 47.29% of sequestered peroxide, in short, it was evidenced
that the best treatment was the essential oil of Royal lemon leaves by fractional distillation. After analysis by chromatography, the main
compounds were identified as: Sabinene, D-Limonene, Linalool, Citronellal, Citronellol and 1R-α-Pinene, possibly being these the ones
that presented the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity.