Chemical composition, antimicrobial and insecticidal activities of the tunisian Citrus aurantium essential oils

Abstract

The chemical composition of volatile fractions from leaves, flowers and peels of Citrus aurantium growing in Tunisia obtained by hydrodistillation were analysed using GC and GC-MS. Furthermore, the isolated essential oils were evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial activity against eight bacteria, eight phytopathogenic and nine human pathogenic fungi. The essential oils from peels and its main compound limonene have been found to possess strong contact toxicity against four storage-grain insects. The highest mortality rate was observed when the essential oil was applied against Cryptolestes ferrugineus, Liposcelis bostrychophila and Tribolium castaneum.

Keywords

• antimicrobial activity
• citrus aurantium
• essential oil
• insecticidal activity
• limonene
• volatile fractions