Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Essential Oils and Methanolic Extracts of Tunisian Citrus aurantium L.

Abstract

This study was designed to examine for the first time the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oils and organic extracts of Tunisian Citrus aurantium. Essential oils extracted by hydrodistillation from the peels, leaves and flowers were characterized by GC-MS. It results in the identification of three chemotypes: limonene (87,02 %), linalyl acetate (53,76 %) and linalool (39,74 %), respectively, as the major compounds. Phytochemical screening of methanolic extracts (peels, leaves and flowers) lead to identification of tannins, flavonoids, polyphenols, sterols, polyterpenes and alkaloids. Antioxidant activities of both organic extracts and essential oils were examined using DPPH and ABTS methods. Methanol extracts in particular from the peel showed the highest activity compared with essential oils. The antimicrobial activities were tested by the well-diffusion method. Results showed that the tested bacteria were sensitive only to the essential oils.