Influence of drying methods on chemical compositions, antioxidant and antibacterial activity of essential oil from lemon peel

The influence of natural, hot-air and infrared drying on chemical composition and bioactivity of lemon peel essential oil are investigated in this study. The results showed that drying resulted in losses or increases of some components or production of some new substances, but the d-limonene (59.52–70.01%) was found as the main component of essential oil. Drying brought about decreases in the yield, antioxidant and antibacterial activity of essential oil. However, the natural drying had little effect, while the hot-air and infrared drying resulted in significant decreases in these parameters, especially at the higher temperature. The yield was the lowest under hot-air drying (60 °C) and decreased by 78%, while infrared drying (60 °C) sample exhibited the lowest antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Infrared drying was easier to lead to the decrease in bioactivity than hot-air drying at the same temperature. These results provided the theoretical basis for drying lemon peel.