CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, IN VITRO WOUND HEALING ACTIVITY, AND IN SILICO DOCKING EVALUATION OF ESSENTIAL OILS FROM CITRUS MAXIMA (BURM.) MERR LEAVES AND PEELS

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate antibacterial and antioxidant activities, and evaluate in vitro wound healing potential via fibroblast proliferation assay of Citrus maxima leaves oil (MLEO) and C. maxima peels oil (MPEO), determine chemical constituents, and predict the chemical component responsible for antibacterial properties. Methods: This citrus oil was obtained through hydrodistillation. The analysis of chemical composition was obtained using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) spectroscopy. In vitro wound healing using MTT assays against fibroblast cells, antioxidant activities were evaluated through ABTS assay, and antibacterial activities using the broth microdilution method against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25423) and Escherichia coli (ATCC 25422). The molecular docking of main chemical compounds was evaluated using PBP 1a (3UDI) and PBP 2a (1MWT) proteins. Results: GC-MS revealed that D-limonene was dominant in the peels, while 3-carane was dominant in the leaves. The in vitro wound healing activity showed that MLEO and MPEO enhanced the number of fibroblast cells with values of 103.31±3.53% and 100.09±2.28%, respectively, at a concentration of 0.1 μg/mL. MLEO exhibited a lower IC50 value than MPEO, with avalue of 251.97±3.34 μg/mL. MLEO also exhibited strong antibacterial activity, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 3.125 mg/mL against S. aureus, and MIC of 6.25 mg/mL and MBC of 12.5 mg/mL against E. coli. Molecular docking analysis indicated that 3-carene had the strongest binding affinities on PBP 1a protein (−6.222 kcal/mol) and caryophyllene on PBP 2a protein (−6,663 kcal/mol). Conclusion: This study confirms that MLEO showed the potential for wound healing, antioxidant, and antibacterial activity.