Isolation and Characterization of Volatile Oil Constituents From Fruit Peels of Selected Rutaceae Genotypes From India

The essential oil was isolated from the fruit peels of eight Rutaceae genotypes of South India by utilizing the cold pressing method and has been analyzed through GC/MS. Altogether, 28 chemical constituents were detected and grouped into seven categories based on the presence of functional groups. Among all the groups, monoterpene hydrocarbons constituted the most dominant group ranging from 86.96-100 %, followed by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (0.32-12.27 %), other miscellaneous compounds (12.52 %), oxygenated monoterpenes (0.34-0.79 %), oxygenated sesquiterpenes (0.83 %) and aldehydes (0.46 %), respectively. Limonene was the most abundant compound found in all the samples (51.53-93.52 %), followed by gamma-terpinene (19.77 % in CLMB, beta-pinene (17.83 % in CLMBI; 17.02 % in CLMS; 14.58 % in CLMM; 13.11 % in CLMB), 5-Ethylidene-1-methylcycloheptene (12.52 % in CLT), sabinene (7.73% inAM) and alpha-pinene (5.86 % in CLMB). Principal component analysis of all the volatiles detected from the samples discriminated into two main chemotypes (limonene and gamma- terpinene/beta-pinene). Further, based on the rich content of limonene, gamma-terpinene and beta-pinene in the genotypes CS, CLMB and CLMBI, they could be the potential sources for the commercial production of essential oil in the pharmaceutical industries.