Abstract
Citrus species extracts are well known sources of bio-functional compounds with health-promoting effects. In particular, essential oils are known for their antibacterial activity due to the high content of terpenes. In this work, the steam-distilled essential oil from the leaves of Citrus limon var. pompia was loaded in phospholipid vesicles. The physico-chemical characteristics of the essential oil loaded vesicles were compared with those of vesicles that were loaded with citral, which is one of the most abundant terpenes of Citrus essential oils. The biocompatibility of the vesicles was assessed in vitro in human keratinocytes. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity of the vesicles was tested while using different bacterial strains and a yeast: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans, respectively. The vesicles were small in size (~140 nm), slightly polydispersed (PI ~ 0.31), highly negatively charged (~ −73 mV), and able to incorporate high amounts of essential oil or citral (E% ~ 86%). Pompia essential oil and citral exhibited antimicrobial activity against all of the assayed microorganisms, with P. aeruginosa being the least sensitive. Citral was slightly more effective than pompia essential oil against E. coli, S. aureus, and C. albicans. The incorporation of citral in vesicles improved its antifungal activity against C. albicans.
Highlights
Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck var. pompia Camarda, which is known as Citrus monstruosa, of the Rutaceae family [1], is an ancient endemic cultivar only grown in some warm areas of the north-eastern Sardinia (Italy) [2,3]
The minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values were similar for both samples. These results suggest that the incorporation of citral in liposomes promotes the antifungal activity against C. albicans
Taking the recognized capabilities of liposomes into account to improve the dermal delivery of essential oils, in this study we focused on the evaluation of the antibacterial activity of liposomes that were loaded with pompia essential oil
Summary
Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck var. pompia Camarda, which is known as Citrus monstruosa, of the Rutaceae family [1], is an ancient endemic cultivar only grown in some warm areas of the north-eastern Sardinia (Italy) [2,3]. Pompia Camarda, which is known as Citrus monstruosa, of the Rutaceae family [1], is an ancient endemic cultivar only grown in some warm areas of the north-eastern Sardinia (Italy) [2,3]. It is probably a hybrid species derived from citron and lemon that produces irregularly shaped, yellow fruits that are characterized by a low juice content and a reduced level of sugar [4]. The most active oil against a food-derived strain (Stenotrophomonas maltophilia) was found to be Litsea cubeba oil Such activity has been linked to the action of citral, which was the main component of the oil. The antibacterial activity of citral-containing essential oils is well documented in the literature, being in line with these findings [8,9]
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