Use of Essential Oils of the Genus <i>Citrus</i> as Biocidal Agents

Abstract

In this study , the essential oils extracted from the peels of Citrus aurantifolia , Citrus limon and Citrus sinensis were chemically characterized and quantified. These essential oils and their standards limonene, citral and li monene + citral were evaluated (at concentrations ranging from 500 to 3.91 mL ·mL - 1 ) regarding their anti - try panosome, antifungal and antibacterial activities. The chemical identification and quantification (by GC/FID and GC/MS) displayed the limonene as the major component of the three essential oils. It did not verified anti- trypanosome activity for all treatments. Regarding antimicrobial activity , the results were satisfactory against Gram-negative bacteria ( Staphylococcus aureus , Listeria . monocytogenes and Salmonella cholerasuis ) and funghi ( Aspergillus niger , A . flavus and A . carbonarius ), except for the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa , which showed no inhibition for any treatment used.