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 reticulata Blanco), pomelo (Citrus grandis Osbeck) and lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) on the growth of plant pathogenic fungi, Mucor hiemalis, Penicillium expansum and Fusarium proliferatum was 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 of M. hiemalis and F. proliferatum while pomelo EO was the most effective against P. expansum. These results indicate that citrus EOs can be used as antifungal natural products in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.