Isolation, phytochemical characterization, and inhibitory potential of essential oil from Citrus hystrix DC. fruit peels against foodborne and phytopathogenic microbes.

Plant-based essential oils are currently targeted sources because of their non-toxic, bioactivity, and safety of non-targeted organisms. Various volatile components such as terpenoids, phenolics, and alkaloids make it compatible with broad-spectrum applications. In the current study, essential oil from Citrus hystrix DC. fruit peels were isolated. The GCMS analysis of the essential oil has confirmed the presence of various volatile components, in which 3-propylphenol has a maximum peak area percentage of 50.28%. The functional determination through FTIR detected the presence of aldehydic C-H and aldehydic carbonyl C=O group. Antioxidant capability also exhibited 55.61% DPPH scavenging activity with an IC50 value of 84.46 µg/ml. The antibacterial property analysis of essential oil against food spoilage-related bacteria through agar well diffusion methods reveals more effectiveness against gram-positive bacteria with 25 µg/ml MIC values. The antifungal activity analysis of essential oil against phytopathogenic fungi through agar dilution methods shows efficacy in controlling Fusarium oxysporum with the inhibitive percentage of 79.15% at the concentration of 250 µg/ml and Penicillium choerospondiatis with an inhibition percentage of 100% at the concentration of 250 µg/ml. This essential oil exhibits high potency for controlling food-spoilage-related bacteria and can be quite effective for controlling postharvest mold infection caused by phytopathogens.