The essential oil of Citrus aurantifolia (Christm) Swingle fruits (limes) was studied for its potential spasmolytic effects in relation to its chemical composition. The essential oil, extracted by hydrodistillation (HD), was analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. The antispasmodic activity was evaluated on isolated rabbit jejunum, aorta and uterus. The results indicated that the essential oil of C aurantifolia possesses important spasmolytic properties, which are likely to be due to its major constituents, limonene (58.4%), β-pinene (15.4%), γ-terpinene (8.5%), and citral (4.4%).
MortonJ. (1987) Mexican lime in fruits of warm climates. Morton JF, Miami, FL.
2.
ChambleeTS, KarelitzT, RadfordT, ClarkBC. (1997) Identification of sesquiterpenes in citrus essential oils by cryofocusing GC/FT-IR. Journal of Essential Oil Research, 57, 19–25.
3.
RangannaS, GovindrajanVS, RamanaKVR. (1983) Citrus fruits-varieties, chemistry, technology and quality evaluation. Part II. Chemistry, technology and evaluation. CRC Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 18, 313–316.
4.
AraújoCPJr, da CamaraCA, NevesIA, Ribeiro N deC, GomesCA, de MoraesMM, Botelho P deS (2010) Acaricidal activity against Tetranychus urticae and chemical composition of peel essential oils of three Citrus species cultivated in NE Brazil. Natural Product Communications, 5, 471–476.
5.
Ribeiro N deC, da CamaraCA, Born F deS, de SiqueiraHA (2010) Insecticidal activity against Bemisia tabaci biotype B of peel essential oil of Citrus sinensis var. pear and Citrus aurantium cultivated in northeast Brazil. Natural Product Communications, 5, 1819–1822.
6.
PatilJR, JayaprakashaGK, Chidambara MurthyKN, TichySE, ChettiMB, PatilBS (2009) Apoptosis-mediated proliferation inhibition of human colon cancer cells by volatile principles of Citrus aurantifolia. Food Chemistry, 114, 1351–1358.
7.
PortaED, ReverehonD, BarthDC. (1997) Mandarin and lime peel oil processing by supercritical CO2 desorption; deterpenation and high molecular weight compound elimination. Journal of Essential Oil Research, 9, 515–522.
8.
TedoneL, BonaccorsiI, DugoP, CotroneoA, MondelloL (2011) Reliable identification and quantification of volatile components of sage essential oil using ultra HRGC. Natural Product Communications, 6, 417–422.
9.
CostaR, De FinaMR, ValentinoMR, CrupiML, MondelloL. (2009) Application of a new GC-MS library, designed with a retention index filter tool, to the analysis of the essential oil of Cistus ladanifer. Acta Horticulturae, 826, 271–276.
10.
DugoG, CotroneoA, BonaccorsiI, TrozziA. (2011) Composition of the volatile fraction of citrus peel oils. In Citrus oils – composition, advanced analytical techniques, contaminants, and biological activity. DugoG, MondelloL. (Eds). CRC Press, Taylor and Francis group, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 1–161.
11.
DugoP, CotroneoA, BonaccorsiI, MondelloL. (1998) On the genuineness of citrus essential oils. Part LVII. The composition of distilled lime oil. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 13, 93–97.
12.
AfolayanAJ, AsekunOT. (2008) Comparative study of the chemical profiles of the essential oils of ripe and rotten fruits of Citrus aurantifolia Swingle. Natural Product Communications, 3, 1133–1136.
13.
Haro-GuzmánL, Composition of distilled oils. In Citrus oils – composition, advanced analytical techniques, contaminants, and biological activity. DugoG, MondelloL (Eds). CRC Press, Taylor and Francis group, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 193–217.
