Diversity in principal constituents of plants with a lemony scent and the predominance of citral

In this study, we extracted essential oils from four species of plants with lemony scents (Melissa officinalis L.,Aloysia citriodora Palau (=  Lippia citriodora (Palau) Kunth),Thymus × citriodorus,Perilla citriodora (Makino) Nakai). We then examined the components of extracts using gas chromatography (GC) and GC –mass spectrometry (GC–MS). A comparison of components indicated that the largest proportions of essential oils were caryophyllene (25%) inM. officinalis, geraniol (50%) inT. citriodorus, and citral (61 and 82%) inA. citriodora andP. citriodora. Moreover, we used a sensory evaluation method using dilute aqueous solutions of extract components, citral, linalool,d-limonene, and geraniol, to select the mixture with a flavor that mostly resembled lemon. The participants in the study felt that an aqueous citral solution flavored more like lemon than aqueousd-limonene. Furthermore, an open field study of sedative effects of citral andd-limonene, when inhaled, on mice demonstrated that citral exhibited a sedative effect at a lower concentration than that ofd-limonene.
Source: Journal of Natural Medicines - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research