Abstract

Investigations were conducted to determine the chemical composition, antiradical and antifungal activities of the essential oil extracted from the fresh leaves of Citrus latifolia var. Tahiti from Cameroon against Phaeoramularia angolensis. The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation was analysed by GC and GC/MS. The disc diffusion method was used to evaluate the zone of fungal growth inhibition at various concentrations of the oil while the antiradical activity of the oil was studied by the DPPH (diphenyl picryl hydrazyl) method. The chemical analysis revealed 26 components among which limonene (45.76%), geranial (13.12%) and neral (10.35%) were the main components. The antiradical activity of C. latifolia essential oil (SC₅₀ = 9.93 g/l) was less than that of butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT) which was used as the reference compound (SC₅₀ = 7.02 x 10^-3 g/l). After 40 days of incubation on oil –supplemented medium, the growth of P. angolensis was totally inhibited by 1600 mg/l of C. latifolia oil. Results obtained in the present study indicate the possibility of exploiting C. latifolia var Tahiti essential oil to combat P. angolensis which is responsible for heavy losses of Citrus fruits harvests.

Key words: Citrus latifolia, yield, chemical composition, Phaeoramularia angolensis, limonene, neral, geranial, antifungal activity.