<i>Citrus</i> spp. essential oil: biological properties and composition of volatiles from the peel of citrus fruits at different stages of maturation in Brazil

This study aims to characterize the chemical composition and evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Essential Oils (EOs) from the peel of different citrus species at two stages of maturation. The EOs were extracted by hydrodistillation, the composition of the EOs was determined by gas chromatography, the antimicrobial activity was evaluated by the agar diffusion method for bacteria and fungi, and the antioxidant activity was evaluated by the DPPH method. As a result, D-limonene was identified as the main compound in all EOs (57.13−87.1%), followed by γ-terpinene (10.69−20.79%) for two of the three species used in this study, at the two different stages of maturation. In general, all EOs evaluated presented interesting biological activities, for antioxidant activity (21.7% to 41.07%), antimicrobial activity (9 mm to 14 mm) and antifungal activity (7 mm to 15 mm), indicating that EOs from different citrus species at different stages of maturation have interesting potential for industrial applications.