Comparison between Citral and Pompia Essential Oil Loaded in Phospholipid Vesicles for the Treatment of Skin and Mucosal Infections

Citrus species extracts are well known sources of bio-functional compounds with health-promoting effects. In particular, essential oils are known for their antibacterial activity due to the high content of terpenes. In this work, the steam-distilled essential oil from the leaves of Citrus limon var. pompia was loaded in phospholipid vesicles. The physico-chemical characteristics of the essential oil loaded vesicles were compared with those of vesicles that were loaded with citral, which is one of the most abundant terpenes of Citrus essential oils. The biocompatibility of the vesicles was assessed in vitro in human keratinocytes. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity of the vesicles was t…