Food preservative potential of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil

Abstract

The economic charges and health implications of food spoilage and food waste handling are increasing. Contamination of food sources by different sources of contaminants remains a major public health concern. In the last decades, researches have focused on developing safer natural products and innovations to meet consumers' acceptance as alternatives to synthetic food preservatives. Many recent novel preservative techniques and applications of both natural and synthetic origin continue to proliferate in food and chemical industries. In particular, some essential oils of plant origin are potent food preservatives and are thus attractive alternatives to synthetic preservatives. For the reasons mentioned above, this studied aimed evaluate the chemical composition, antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal properties of the essential oil obtained from the Cymbopogon citratus of Angolan origin. Its major constituents analyzed by GC-MS were α-citral (40.55%), β-citral (28.26%), myrcene (10.50%) and geraniol (3.37%). The essential oil antioxidant capacity antioxidants (DPPH IC50 of 41.7 μg/ml) and superior to that of extracts obtained from fresh leaves of the plant (DPPH IC50 of 55.7 μg/ml). The oil also demonstrated high antibacterial activity even Aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and antifungal activity against Candida albicans and Non-Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis and Candida tropicalis.