Investigation of chemical compositions, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of waste essential oils of four Citrus fruits with the aim of economical production of high value-added products

Subject Areas : Phytochemistry

zahra kazemizadeh ¹ , fatemeh nazari ² , mehdi bolfion ³

1 -
2 - 2- Department of Nano&Biophysics, Research Institute of Applied Sciences, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
3 - 3- Department of Petroleum Microbiology, Research Institute of Applied Sciences, ACECR, Tehran,Iran

Received: 2025-09-16 Accepted : 2025-09-28 Published : 2025-11-09

Keywords: Essential oil, Citrus Sinensis, Citrus Aurantium, Citrus Paradisi, Citrus Aurantifolia,

Abstract :

Introduction: Citrus fruits belong to the Rutaceae family and in Iran include Citrus Sinensis, Citrus Aurantium, Citrus Lemon, Citrus Aurantifolia, Citrus Reticulata, Citrus Paradisi and Citrus Limetta. The production of essential oils from Citrus peels has significant economic value. The aim of the present study was to extract and identify the essential oil components from the waste of Citrus fruits including Citrus Sinensis, Citrus Aurantium, Citrus Paradisi and Citrus Aurantifolia. In addition, the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the essential oils were also evaluated.

Material and Methods: For this purpose, the waste of the desired Citrus fruits obtained from juicing was prepared and manually cleaned and cut. Essential oil extraction was performed using a Clevenger device for 4 hours. Then, its chemical constituents were identified using GC-Mass. In the next step, the antioxidant activity was measured using the DPPH free radical scavenging method.

In the next step, antibacterial activity was examined by measuring the MIC and MBC on the microorganisms Escherichia coli and Staphylococus araeus.

Results: GC-Mass analysis showed that limonene (60.64%) and linalool (8.42%) were the main components of Citrus Sinensis peel essential oil. Limonene (70.63%) and myrcene (6.46%) were identified as the main components of Citrus Aurantium peel essential oil. Also, the main components of Citrus Sinensis peel essential oil were limonene (70.38%) and linalool (5.36%). Limonene (31.4%) and β-pinene (13.95%) were identified as the main components of Citrus Aurantifolia peel essential oil. Limonene had the highest amount in Citrus peel essential oil. Citrus Aurantium peel essential oil had the highest antioxidant activity. Citrus Aurantifolia peel essential oil also stopped the growth of microorganisms Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.The yield of essential oil from the Citrus wastes studied was 0.6% for Citrus Aurantifolia and 0.5% for Citrus Aurantium, Citrus Sinensis and Citrus Paradisi.

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