Exploitation of sweet lemon residues in the production of essential oils

Abstract

The constituents of sweet lemon essential oil (EO) have different biological and medical properties. The exploitation of sweet lemon residues in the production of EO is an important means of increasing natural products and disposing of those residues. The aim of this study was to evaluate the EO extracted from various sweet lemon residues such as leaves, flowers, and peels of fruits to find out their content of active substances. The EO of different residues of sweet lemon was isolated by hydrodistillation (HD) method, then they were analyzed by GC/MS. Data were statistically analyzed using ANOVA-1. The content of EO (%) was higher in peels than in flowers or leaves. Citronellal, nerol, and limonene were the major constituents of EO extracted from leaves, flowers, and peels, respectively. All detected components of various oils belonged to four chemical fractions (monoterpene hydrocarbons (MH), oxygenated monoterpenes (OM), sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (SH), and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (OS)). The MH was the major faction of peel EO while the OM was the major fraction of leaf and flower EOs. The SH and OS were formed as the minor fractions in all EOs. Different variations were observed in sweet lemon EO extracted from various residues which lead to diversity in natural sources of EO production.