Phytochemical constituents and antibacterial activity of Citrus lemon leaves

Abstract

The study investigated the phytochemical constituents and antibacterial activity of Citrus lemon volatile oil extracted from pruning leaves collected from a private farm at Nobariya district against Gram-positive "Staphylococcus aureus NRRL B-313 and Bacillus cereus NRC" and Gram-negative "Pseudomonas aeruginosa NRC B-32 and Escherichia coli NRC B-3703". The oil obtained from powdered dried C. lemon leaves was analyzed by GC–MS to identify their constituents. The analysis revealed the presence of sabinene, carene, limonene, and β-ocimene. The leaves volatile oil showed a remarkable inhibition against S. aureus (32 ± 0.01 mm) and P. aeruginosa (49 ± 0.01 mm) and it had a strong effect on the DNA, RNA, lipids, and protein biosynthesis in cells of S. aureus and had a strong effect on the lipids biosynthesis in cells of P. aeruginosa. The results in this study suggested that C. lemon leaves could be beneficial in developing a novel antibiotic and studied its mode of action on the pathogenic microorganism’s cells.