ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TOTAL VOLATILE COMPONENTS FROM LEAVES OF CITRUS LIMON LINN.

The isolation of the essential oil of whole fresh leaves of Citrus lemon by steamdistillation is described. The chemical composition of the oil was investigated by meansof Gas-Liquid Chromatography (GLC), Column Chromatography (CC) and coupled GasChromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The 27 most important volatilecomponents were identified. The volatile components were identified by comparing theirretention times of GC chromatograph with those of literature. Further identification wasdone by GC- MS. The components of the oil, percentage of each constituent, their RIvalues and their Eight Peak Index were also summarized and reviewed with standardavailable literature.