Citral is an acyclic monoterpene aldehyde, and being a monoterpene, it is made of two isoprene units. Citral is a collective term which covers two geometric isomers that have their own separate names; the E-isomer is named Geranial (trans-Citral) or Citral A. The Z-isomer is named Neral (cis-Citral) or Citral B. These enantiomers occur as a mixture, not necessarily racemic; e.g. in essential oil of Australian ginger, the Neral to Geranial ratio is 0.61.
Citral has a strong lemon (citrus) scent and is used as an aroma compound in perfumery. It is used to fortify lemon oil. (Nerol, another perfumery compound, has a less intense but sweeter lemon note.) The aldehydes citronellal and citral are considered key components responsible for the lemon note with citral preferred.
It also has pheromonal effects in acari and insects.
Citral is used in the synthesis of vitamin A, lycopene, ionone, and methylionone, to mask the smell of smoke.
The herb Cymbopogon citratus has shown promising insecticidal and antifungal activity against storage pests.
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