Antioxidant-Mediated Modification of Citral and Its Control Effect on Mildewy Bamboo

Area of Science:

• Wood preservation
• Natural product chemistry
• Antioxidant research

Background:

• Citral is susceptible to oxidative degradation, limiting its efficacy.
• Antimildew treatments for bamboo require effective and stable compounds.
• Natural antioxidants offer potential for improving citral's stability and performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To modify citral with natural antioxidants (tea polyphenols, ascorbic acid, theaflavin).
• To evaluate the impact of antioxidants on citral's oxidative degradation and DPPH radical-scavenging activity.
• To assess the antimildew effectiveness of antioxidant-modified citral on bamboo.

Main Methods:

• Citral was modified with varying concentrations of tea polyphenols, ascorbic acid, and theaflavin.
• Oxidative degradation rates and DPPH radical-scavenging rates were measured.
• Antimildew efficacy of modified citral against four types of mildew on bamboo was tested.

Main Results:

• Tea polyphenols, ascorbic acid, and theaflavin improved citral's antioxidant performance.
• Tea polyphenols demonstrated the most significant antioxidant effect, preventing citral degradation at 1.0%.
• Tea-polyphenol-modified citral achieved 100% antimildew efficacy on bamboo, outperforming unmodified citral.

Conclusions:

• Natural antioxidants, especially tea polyphenols, effectively stabilize citral against oxidation.
• Antioxidant modification enhances citral's antimildew properties for bamboo preservation.
• This approach reduces the required amount of citral, lowering treatment costs and environmental impact.