## 3 Discussion
In the study by [PERSON] et al. [36], a weak cytotoxic effect of citronella essential oil on human lymphocytes was observed, although the use of geraniol had the opposite effect. Many human cell lines did not show genotoxic or clastogenic/aneugenic effects when exposed to high concentrations (100 \(\mu\)g/mL) of geraniol [37]. It has been shown that geraniol, despite its mild cytotoxicity in human lymphocytes, is able to scavenge free radicals similarly to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), ascorbic acid, and \(\alpha\)-tocopherol, which are potent antioxidants [38]. Regarding citronellal, the second most-abundant compound in EOCw (Table 1), it is known to be non-toxic to mammalian cells (LC\({}_{50}\) > 50 \(\mu\)g/mL) [30]. Few studies reporting the leishmaniasisicidal effects of essential oils from species of the _Cymbopogon_ genus have been reported, the majority of which cite the oil of C. _citratus_ as a potent leishmaniasisicidal agent, with LC50 values = 25 \(\mu\)g/mL and 1.7 \(\mu\)g/mL for _Leishmanian infuntum_ and _L. amazonensis_, respectively, where the latter was superior to the pentamidine drug used here [39; 40]. The leishmaniasisicidal effects of EOCw observed here (Figures 3 and 5, Table 3) are almost certainly due to a large number of oxygenated terpen present in its composition (Table 1), which, as in C. _citratus_, demonstrate a strong leishmaniasisicidal effect, especially for _L. braziliensis_[41]. Geraniol, identified here in large quantities in the EOCw (Table 1), did not show antipromastigote activity against _L. braziliensis_ at a concentration of 100 \(\mu\)g/mL in the study by [PERSON] et al. [42]; however, in the same study, it was shown that citronellal has excellent antipromastigote activity. Other plant species whose essential oils contain major amounts of citronellal, such as _Eucalyptus citridora_, also exhibit good leishmaniasisicidal effects [43]. Different species of _Leishman_ seem to be significantly affected by geraniol, which, in these cases, has LC\({}_{50}\) = 3.78 \(\mu\)g/mL and 5.57 \(\mu\)g/mL for _L. infantum_ and _L. major_, respectively [44]. In vitro analyses using molecular docking demonstrated that geraniol is strongly anchored by the molecules of _L. major_ uridine diphosphate-glucose pyrophosphoryylase (LmajUGPase), _L. major_ methionyl t-RNA synthetase (LmajMetRS), and _L. infantum_ nicotinicamidase (LinfPrC1) [45]. The same type of evaluation indicated the spermiding synthase (SpdS) enzyme as a possible anchoring site for geraniol in _L. donovani_; however, linalool, with similar potential, does not present a good leishmanicidal effect [46; 47]. Citral, molecularly similar to geraniol, is capable of causing considerable ultrastructural changes in Leishmani spp., including mitochondrial and kinetoplast swelling, autophagomal structures, nuclear membrane rupture, and nuclear chromatin condensation, which would justify the antipromastigote effect observed here (Figures 3 and 5, Table 3) [39]. Exposure to high concentrations of eugenol, another oxygenated monoterpene, also caused extensive fatal cell damage in _Leishmani_ spp. promastigotes, such as cells with two or more flagella, swollen mitochondria and altered inner mitochondrial membrane, with a significant increase in the number of cristae, indicating an associated mechanism of action. to mitochondrial damage [48]. The performance of EOCw in inhibiting the epimastigote form of _Trypanosoma cruzi_ (Figures 4 and 5, Table 4) was similar to that observed in studies of the same scope using species of the genus _Cymhypogon_[49; 50]. _Cymhypogon citratus_ has already demonstrated a potent trypanicidal effect (LC\({}_{50}\) = 3.2 \(\mu\)g/mL) against _Trypanosoma brucei_, that is, almost as efficient as the standard drug pentamidine used in our study, where its major component, citral, was found to be responsible for this performance, presenting a similar effect (LC\({}_{50}\) = 18.9 \(\mu\)g/mL) [51]. Different forms of _T.