Insights on Citrus clementina essential oil as a potential antiaging candidate with a comparative chemometric study on different cultivars

The aging process results in the gradual reduction of hyaluronic acid, collagen, and elastin levels, that are crucial in maintaining moisture, elasticity, and flexibility of the skin. This results in the loss of skin elasticity and strength that manifests by appearance of wrinkles. Citrus species are considered rich source of volatile oils that is used as an active ingredient in the development of cosmetics and therapeutics. Chemical profiling of the essential oil composition based on gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry of four cultivars of Citrus clementina leaves planted in Egypt namely, Fina, Spinosa, Fedela, and Nour clementine led to the identification of 30 compounds. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchal cluster analysis (HCA) displayed segregation of different citrus cultivars into four main clusters. In vitro antiaging activity showed that Fina cultivar demonstrated the highest inhibitory activity against collagenase (IC50 = 315.4 ± 16.1 µg/mL) and elastase (0.28 ± 0.01 µg/mL), while Nour cultivar demonstrated the most potent anti-hyaluronidase activity (IC50 = 2.097 ± 0.09 µg/mL). Molecular docking of the essential oil major compounds on enzymes of interest revealed that sabinene, β-pinene, D-limonene, linalool, and terpinen-4-ol act synergistically to elicit the antiaging activity of the essential oil. Based on our result, Fina and Nour cultivars of Citrus clementina can be proposed as a promising candidate in antiaging skin care products.