Biological activities of the essential oil from the Moro orange peel (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck)

Abstract

Citrus essential oils have become the focus of several researches, because they have broad biological activity, due to their chemical composition. However, there are few studies covering Moro orange essential oil. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of fresh Moro orange peel essential oil on antifungal, antioxidant, cytotoxic, and genotoxic activities in normal and tumor cells. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation and characterized by GC/MS and GC/FID. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTS assay in normal cells (CCD‐1059Sk) and tumor cells (CCD‐1059Sk), and the genotoxicity was determined in normal cells by the comet assay. Antifungal activity was evaluated by the disk diffusion test against Aspergillus carbonarius and Aspergillus flavus filamentous fungi. The antioxidant activity was determined in DPPH, ABTS, and β‐carotene assay. The essential oil was mainly composed of monoterpenes such as limonene (95.12%), α‐pinene (0.35%), sabinene (0.54%), and myrcene (1.07%). The essential oil did not cause cell death after 48 hours of treatment in normal cells, but the cell viability of tumor cells decreased by 50% in the presence of the essential oil at a concentration of 272.6 μg/mL. Although no antioxidant effect was observed, the growth of all evaluated fungi was inhibited with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 125 μL/mL. The essential oil from the Moro orange is promising for cancer treatment, and it can be used as a natural preservative in food systems.

The Chemical Compositions, and Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of Four Types of Citrus Essential Oils

“…At present, citrus EOs have become the focus of many studies for their chemical components and biological activities—antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, insecticidal, etc. [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. The antibacterial and antioxidant activities of citrus EOs have been extensively studied.…”

Potent anticancer effects of vitamin C and vitamin C-rich fruit extract (Citrus sinensis L.) on human lung cancer cells

“…They also reported that OPE exhibited promising anticancer in mice with Dalton lymphoma ascites (DLA) tumors by increasing the average life span and improving the level of the antioxidant enzyme and hematological parameters (27). Magalhães et al demonstrated that the C. sinensis essential oil markedly reduced the cell viability of CCD-1059Sk tumor cells up to 50% with the CC 50 value of 272.6 μg/mL (28). Previously, it has been reported that C. sinensis extract due to having the contents of both vitamin C and flavonoids showed anticancer properties through its antioxidant activity, inhibiting peroxidation and ROS generation, anti-inflammatory effects, elevated manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase expression and controlling the factors of apoptosis (29).…”

Evaluation of Enzyme Inhibition and Anti-Quorum Sensing Potentials of Melaleuca alternifolia and Citrus sinensis Essential Oils

“…Orange oil showed high amounts of limonene and β-myrcene, as would be expected, as this is characteristic of its composition. [29][30][31] The chemical composition of C. sinensis oil reported here shows key components as limonene (71.2%), β-myrcene (5.1%), linalool (5.5%), and α-pinene (2.1%). These results corroborate, though with some little qualitative and quantitative differences, those reported in one previous study, which reported limonene (71.8%), β-myrcene (4.6%), linalool (3.9%) and α-pinene (1.2%), 32 and with some other additional components that have been reported in this plant's oil.…”