## 3 Results and Discussion
### Essential Oil Composition
The chemical compositions of the essential oils obtained from citrus peels, especially the content of monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes, may also change during fruit ripening. Among the four types of citrus (bitter orange, orange maltaise, mandarin, and lemon), the highest level of limonene, which is one of the most dominant monoterpene hydrocarbons, was already reached at the immature fruit stage [27]. These observations could be useful to obtain essential oils with a high yield and with a high content of limonene. Our results also showed that limonene (31.51%) was the major volatile compound in yellow lemon peels. Furthermore, limonene (37.94%) and \(\beta\)-pinene (25.44%) were also dominant components in Tunisian essential oils isolated from lemon samples [28]. These active ingredients are often used for preparing perfumes, medicines, and flavoring agents, and their presence can have an impact on the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of essential oils. The essential oil of the [PERSON] lemon was found to exhibit the highest activity against _Bacillus cereus_, and that of the Interdonato lemon showed the highest activity against _E. coli_ (the diameter of the inhibition zone: 15 mm) [29]. Other identified volatile components in the monoterpene hydrocarbon fraction included \(\gamma\)-terpinene (12.53%), \(\alpha\)-pinene (2.68%), sabinene (3.06%), \(\beta\)-pinene (7.14%), \(\beta\)-myrcene (4.49%), and p-cymene (4.06%). The oxygenated monoterpene fraction included terpinolene (1.06%), linalool (2.76%), terpinene-4-ol (2.06%), \(\alpha\)-terpineol (3.04%), neral (2.74%), geraial (4.05%), geraial (3.38%), neryl acetate (1.81%), and gerayl acetate (1.84%). Sesquiterpenes were the third group of chemical compounds identified in the essential oil of lemon peels. Only six compounds of this group were identified and among them \(\alpha\)-bergamotene and bisabolene were present at a concentration above 1%. These two sesquiterpenes were also identified in the volatile profile of essential oils obtained from five selected varieties of _C. limon_[30]. Similar to the lemon essential oil, oil obtained from clove buds is used as a food flavoring agent [31], in the preparations for gums and teeth, and in aromatherapy. It has the potential to be used as a natural preservative due to its antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antifungal activities [32,33]. As shown in Table 1, a total of 34 compounds, mainly belonging to the class of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (10.71%) and others (83.91%), were identified in the clove essential oil. The major constituents of this oil were eugenol (62.74%), eugenol acetate (15.97%), cyanophyllene (6.24%), humulene (3.54%), and chavicol (1.36%), while the content of the remaining components did not exceed 1%. Eugenol, eugenol acetate, cryophyllene, and humulene were also identified as the main components in the essential oil of cloves cultivated in the Mediterranean region of Turkey [34] and clove oil from Toli-Toli and Bali [35]. Our results were comparable to those reported for clove oil obtained from Toli-Toli, especially in terms of the content of eugenol and eugenol acetate, while the Turkish clove bud oil was richer in eugenol (87%) and contained less eugenol acetate compared to the content of these components determined in this study. In turn, the clove bud oil from Bangladesh was shown to consist of 31 compounds, of which eugenol was dominant. In comparison to our research, the percentage of eugenol was lower and amounted to 49.71% [36]. However, the content of this compound was about 15% higher in the oil obtained from clove leaves. Other studies showed that this bioactive compound was the most abundant at the flowering stage in mature trees [37]. On the other hand, the oil obtained from the stem of the clove plant in Amboina Island was characterized by a higher percentage of eugenol compared to the oil obtained from the buds and leaves of the clove plant in the same region but a lower percentage of eugenol acetate and carophyllene [38]. [PERSON] et al.