Citrus aurantium 'Changshanhuyou' is one kind of fruit that is beneficial to human health. Most research focus on active substances such as flavonoids and limonoids, but few on the essential oils from its peels. This study analyzed the volatile components of Huyou peel essential oil (HYEO) throughout the growth and ripening stages including beginning, middle, end of growth period, and post- ripening stage (60 days of storage) by GC-MS. The results identified approximately 70 components in HYEO, and the level of oxygenated monoterpenes decreased while sesquiterpenes increased with the ripening of the huyou. The essential oil after 60 days of storage showed outstanding antioxidant properties (DPPH, IC50 = 101.77 ± 0.83 mg/mL; ABTS, IC50 = 18.11 ± 0.74 mg/mL), antibacterial (zones of inhibition: E. coli, 28.18 ± 1.37 mm; S. aureus, 20.40 ± 0.84 mm; S. Typhimurium, 27.17 ± 1.14 mm; L. monocytogenes, 22.83 ± 1.27 mm) and antidiabetic (IC50 = 5.26 ± 0.58 mg/mL) activities due to high levels of p-cymenene, cis-carveol, and D-carvone detected. Results from the corticosterone-damaged mouse neuronal cell model, the essential oil extracted from the middle of the growth period demonstrates the best antidepressant activity due to high content of citronellol, elemene, linalool, and citronel detected. Overall, this study provides a valuable reference for exploiting and evaluating essential oils from Huyou peels with multifunctions in food and medicine industry.
Keywords: Antibacterial; Antidepressant; Antidiabetic; Antioxidant; Citrus aurantium ‘Changshanhuyou’; Essential oil.
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