Effects of Molecular Distillation on the Chemical Components, Cleaning, and Antibacterial Abilities of Four Different Citrus Oils

Feilong Yang; Huijuan Zhang; Guifang Tian; Wenbo Ren; Juan Li; Hang Xiao; Jinkai Zheng

doi:10.3389/fnut.2021.731724

Effects of Molecular Distillation on the Chemical Components, Cleaning, and Antibacterial Abilities of Four Different Citrus Oils

Front Nutr. 2021 Sep 1:8:731724. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.731724. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Feilong Yang¹, Huijuan Zhang¹, Guifang Tian^{1

2}, Wenbo Ren¹, Juan Li¹, Hang Xiao², Jinkai Zheng¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States.

Abstract

Essential oils (EOs) from citrus fruits are excellent aromatic resources that are used in food, cosmetics, perfume, and cleaning products. EOs extracted from four citrus varieties, sweet orange, grapefruit, mandarin, and lemon, were separated into two fractions by molecular distillation. The composition, physicochemical properties, cleaning ability, and antimicrobial activity of each EO were then systematically evaluated. The relationships between each of the aforementioned characteristics are also discussed. In keeping with the principle of "like dissolves like," most citrus EOs show better cleaning ability than acetone and all tend to dissolve the fat-soluble pigment. The key components of citrus EOs are 1-Decanol, α-terpineol, geraniol, and linalool for the inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, respectively. The findings of this study will be of significant importance for the effective utilization of citrus peel resources and in the development of future applications for citrus EOs. Chemical Compounds Studied in This Article: (+)-α-Pinene (PubChem CID: 6654); β-Phellandrene (PubChem CID: 11142); 3-Carene (PubChem CID: 26049); β-Myrcene (PubChem CID: 31253); D-Limonene (PubChem CID: 440917); γ-Terpinene (PubChem CID: 7461); Octanal (PubChem CID: 454); Decanal (PubChem CID: 8175); Linalool (PubChem CID: 6549); 1-Octanol (PubChem CID: 957); β-Citral (PubChem CID: 643779); α-Terpineol (PubChem CID: 17100); Hedycaryol (PubChem CID: 5365392); α-Citral (PubChem CID: 638011); 1-Decanol (PubChem CID: 8174); Geraniol (PubChem CID: 637566).

Keywords: antimicrobial activity; citrus oil; cleaning ability; components; molecular distillation; physicochemical properties.