Which ingredient is more of an antibacterial?

Question

I was washing the dishes one day and I was wondering which fruit is stronger. The orange or lemon or lime? Which one?

Answer 1

Each are equally astringent because they all contain limonene.  The only thing to keep in mind is that you do not want to use varieties that have been bred for sweetness, like the Valencia orange or the Key lime.

Answer 2

They are all fairly equal. The probably use something called limonene which is a strong oxidiser from the peels of orange lemons limes and other citrus fruits. Orange oil is a great degreaser.

Answer 3

The best one is lemon, second lime and third orange, but the difference is not large:

Here a table:

"Antimicrobial activity of 21 essential oils against S. aureus, B. subtilis and K. pneumoniae using disc diffusion method" incl. the three essential oils you asked for:

Click on "results, table 1" of this site:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/article...