CARACTERIZAÇÃO QUÍMICA E ATIVIDADES BIOLÓGICAS DO ÓLEO ESSENCIAL DA CASCA DA FRUTA CITRUS RETICULATA

Abstract

Essential oils (EO's) are natural products extracted from plants through various extraction methods, such as hydrodistillation. Citrus fruits, which are very rich in essential oils, belong to the Rutaceae family, which has several species that belong to the genus “Citros”, such as lemon (Citrus Limon), orange (Citrus Sinensi) and tangerine (Citrus Reticulata). The OE's from these species are known to have biological activities, such as antibacterial, larvicidal and antifungal. The objective of this study was the OE extraction from the peel of the cheirosinha tangerine (Citrus Reticulata) fruit to evaluate its biological and chemical activities. The essential oil of the tangerine (CR-EO) was extracted by hydrodistillation and the identification of the chemical components present was carried out by chromatography in gas phase (CG-FID) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (CG-EM). The biological activity in vitro was studied to larvicide, Aedes aegypti, and anti-Leishmania, Leishmania amazonensis. The antifungal activity of the OE-CR was evaluated using the disk diffusion method and the fumigation method against the fungus Sclerotinia Sclerotiorium. The chemical analysis revealed thirteen compounds identified in the fruit's peel oil and represent 97.8% of the total components of the oil. The CR-EO showed high activity against promastigote forms of Leishmania amazonensis and also revealed high larvicidal activity against third instar larvae of Aedes aegypti. In antifungal activity, the OE-CR presents high mycelial growth inhibition by the disk diffusion method. The evaporation method showed less activity when compared to the diffusion method.