Aromatic Plants of Mauritius: Volatile Constituents of the Leaf Oils ofCitrus aurantiumL.,Citrus paradisiMacfad andCitrus sinensis(L.) Osbeck

Abstract

Essential oils obtained from the steam distillation of the leaves of Citrus aurantium L., Citrus paradisi Macfad and Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck were analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. Seventeen components were identified in the leaf oil of C. aurantium, accounting for 99.03% of the oil. The leaf oil of C. paradisi contained 45 components thereby accounting for 93.1% of the oil, while that of C. sinensis contained 61 components accounting for 86.86% of the total composition. The major components of the leaf oil of both C. aurantium and C. paradisi were linalool (66.1% and 22.9% respectively) while that of C. sinensis had cis-piperitol (26.4%) as the major component.