Simple Colorimetric Measurement of Citral in Lemon Scented Essential Oils Using Schiff’s Reagent

Abstract Citral is a key component of lemon scented essential oils. In our aromatic plant breeding programs it is necessary to rapidly screen hundreds of samples for their citral content. The current method based on GLC analysis is expensive and time consuming. Here, we describe a colorimetric method for citral determination based on the Schiff’s reaction of citral. The method is rapid, reproducible and simple, but must be calibrated against GLC. The method is applicable only to samples in which citral is the preponderant reacting aldehyde present.