Abstract

The chemical composition of lemon essential oils, obtained by hydrodistillation, was studied by Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectroscopy (GC–MS). The oil consisted mainly of propylphosphonic acid, fluoroanhydride, octyl ester (15.72%), decanoic anhydride (12.631%), benzene, 2,4-difluoro-1-isocyanato (11.72%), cyclopentane, 1,1'-hexadecylidenebis- (9.98%), 4-cyanocinnoline (8.58%), 4-cyanocinnoline (8.55%), cyclodocosane, ethyl- (7.58%), butanamide, N-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-oxo- (5.77%), 2-naphthuric acid (4.47%), Limonene (4.25%), (Z)-14-tricosenyl formate (3.51%), diethyl phthalate (2.94%), decanoic acid, 1,2,3-propanetriyl ester (2.91%), 13-tetradecen-1-ol acetate (2.40%). The antioxidant activity using O₂^-, OH^-, DPPH^- radicals and the antiproliferative activity on a series of human cervical adenocarcinoma cell lines (LeLA) were investigated for the lemon essential oil. The result showed that the essential oil exhibited strong antioxidant activities as well as antiproliferative activity against HeLA cell line.

Key words: Lemon, essential oil, antioxidant activity, cytotoxic activity.