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)

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.

Malaysian citrus species; antimicrobial activity; larvicidal activity