Chemical Variability and Some Biological Activities of Leaf Essential Oils from Five Species of Malaysian Citrus

Y. H. Taufiq-Yap¹, T. H. Peh¹, G. C. L. Ee¹, A. M. Ali², M. Rahmani³,

¹Department of Chemistry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia) ²Department of Biotechnology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia) ³Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia)

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ABSTRACT:

Hydrodistilled essential oils of five Malaysian citrus species (C. hystrix, C. aurantifolia, C. sinensis, C. microcarpa and C. maxima) were investigated sing GC-MS. Citronellal and citronellol (83.3% and 8.5%) were the major components of C. hystrix. The major constituents of C. aurantifolia were limonene, z-citral and e-citral (26.8%, 16.4% and 20.5% respectively). The oils of C. sinensis were found to be major in linalool and b-elemene (36.9% and 22.4%). Germacrene-D, elemol and b-eudesmol (18.4%, 20.1% and 19.5% respectively) were the major constituents of the oil of C. microcarpa. The oil of C. maxima contained significant amounts of sabniene (37.0%), g-terpinene (21.2%) and b-caryophyllene (11.5%). All these oils were tested for antimicrobial activity against four bacteria, for cytotoxic activity against CEM-SS cell line (T-Lymphoblastic Leukemia) and larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti.

KEYWORDS:

Malaysian citrus species; antimicrobial activity; larvicidal activity