Antimicrobial Activity and Phytochemical Analysis of Solvent Extraction of Citrus reticulata Peels

Abstract

Oranges account for a majority of the citrus fruit and it is used widely in the juice manufacturing industry. These industries produce a large amount of waste which majorly includes orange peels. As these peels contain a wide diversity of bioactive compounds, they can be utilized in the synthesis of various value-added products which aid in reducing environmental pollution and also address the economic issues. This paper focuses on finding the antimicrobial activity and phytochemical analysis of solvent extraction of peels of Citrus reticulata. The Citrus reticulata peels were dried, ground, and extracted using various solvents like acetone, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and petroleum ether, and their antimicrobial activity was determined against Gram-positive bacteria like Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative bacteria like Salmonella typhi. Phytochemical analysis was also carried out to know the presence or absence of various bioactive compounds in solvent extraction. Antimicrobial analysis like agar well diffusion assay, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was conducted and the outcomes acquired revealed that ethanol extract of Citrus reticulata peel was more efficient when compared to peel extracts using other solvents. The phytochemical analysis also showed that ethanol extract showed the presence of more secondary metabolites which can be the reason for the increased antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract.