RESUMO
Background: The chemical composition and bioactivities of essential oils (EOs) of fingered citron (Citrus medica L. var. sarcodactylis (Noot.) Swingle) are considerably sensitive and lapsible during high-temperature processing of traditional separating techniques. In the present research, vacuum distillation and ultrafiltration were utilized in order to process the concentrated juice from fingered citron, obtaining a high-quality essential oil. Methods: In order to compare the essential oils obtained by conventional means, the chemical compositions of the essential oils were analyzed using GC-MS, before antimicrobial and antioxidant screening assays were carried out. Results: Oil which had been subjected to vacuum distillation was shown to maintain most of the distinctiveness of the fingered citron, due to its high content of characteristic flavor components and low content of cyclic oxygenated monoterpenoids. Interestingly, the oil obtained by ultrafiltration showed notable in vitro antimicrobial activity. The DPPH· radical-scavenging assay method revealed that the antioxidant abilities were as follows, presented in descending order: vacuum distillation oil > hydrodistillation oil > ultrafiltration oil. Conclusions: The essential oil obtained by vacuum distillation could be combined with the juice produced from fingered citron to create one of the most promising techniques in the fine-processing of citron fruits.