Essential oil from lemon (Citrus aurantifolia) Grown in Ben Tre Province, Vietnam: Condition extraction, chemical composition and antibacterial properties

Abstract

In present study, a steam distillation method has been adopted for extraction of the essential oil from Vietnamese lemon (Citrus aurantifolia) peel harvested from Tien Giang Province, Vietnam. Various extraction conditions influencing the oil yield were investigated. The resulting essential oil was evaluated for physico-chemical characteristics and antibacterial activities. The chemical composition of oil was investigated by GC-MS. The results showed that with grinded lemon peel, a ratio of water and lemon peels of 3:1 (mL/g), extraction time of 90 min at 120 ºC, the highest essential oil yield was attained at 2.1 %. Bioactive components found at high content included limonene (64.90 %), γterpinene (13.70 %), β-pinene (11.89 %), α-pinene (2.11 %), β-cymene (1.80 %) and sabinen (1.52 %). The lemon essential oil in this study was found to inhibit five bacteria strains including Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.