Citronellal or rhodinal (C10H18O) is a monoterpenoid aldehyde, the main component in the mixture of terpenoid chemical compounds that give citronella oil its distinctive lemon scent.
Citronellal is a main isolate in distilled oils from the plants Cymbopogon (excepting C. citratus, culinary lemongrass), lemon-scented gum, and lemon-scented teatree. The (S)-(−)-enantiomer of citronellal makes up to 80% of the oil from kaffir lime leaves and is the compound responsible for its characteristic aroma.
Citronellal has insect repellent properties, and research shows high repellent effectiveness against mosquitoes. Another research shows that citronellal has strong antifungal qualities.
Compendial status
See also
References
Mahalwal, Vijender S.; Ali, Mohd. (2003). "Volatile constituents of Cymbopogon nardus (Linn.) Rendle". Flavour and Fragrance Journal. 18: 73–76. doi:10.1002/ffj.1144. https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fffj.1144 ↩
Jeong-Kyu KIM; Chang-Soo KANG; Jong-Kwon LEE; Young-Ran KIM; Hye-Yun HAN; Hwa Kyung YUN (2005). "Evaluation of Repellency Effect of Two Natural Aroma Mosquito Repellent Compounds, Citronella and Citronellal". Entomological Research. 35 (2): 117–120. doi:10.1111/j.1748-5967.2005.tb00146.x. S2CID 85112045. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩
Kazuhiko NAKAHARA, Najeeb S. ALZOREKY1, Tadashi YOSHIHASHI, Huong T. T. NGUYEN and Gassinee TRAKOONTIVAKORN (2003). "Chemical Composition and Antifungal Activity of Essential Oil from Cymbopogon nardus (Citronella Grass)". JARQ. 37 (4).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) /wiki/Template:Cite_journal ↩
The British Pharmacopoeia Secretariat (2009). "Index, BP 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20090411071437/http://www.pharmacopoeia.co.uk/pdf/2009_index.pdf ↩