Comparison of antifungal activities of Vietnamese citrus essential oils
Citrus essential oils (EOs) are volatile compounds from citrus peels and widely used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps and aromatherapy. In this study, inhibition of citrus EOs extracted from Vietnamese orange (Citrus sinensis), mandarin (Citrus reticulataBlanco), pomelo (Citrus grandisOsbeck) and lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) on the growth of plant pathogenic fungi,Mucor hiemalis, Penicillium expansumandFusarium proliferatumwas investigated. The EOs of the citrus peels were obtained by cold-pressing method and the antifungal activity of EOs was evaluated using the agar dilution method. The results show that the EOs had significant antifungal activity. Lime EO was the best inhibitor ofM. hiemalisand F. proliferatumwhile pomelo EO was the most effective againstP. expansum. These results indicate that citrus EOs can be used as antifungal natural products in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries Title: Comparison of antifungal activities of Vietnamese citrus essent...