Resumo. Physico-chemical and microbiological conservation can be a viable alternative for different segments, such as products of animal origin, vegetable and as sanitizing agents on surfaces that come into contact with food. They evaluated the action of the essential oil extracted from tangerine bark (Citrus reticulata), bitter orange peel (Citrus bigarradia) and sweet orange peel (Citrus sinensis) for the conservation of fish (Megalobrama amblycephala) stored under freezing conditions. According to the results reported by the authors, all the essential oils presented bacteriostatic activity, being the essential oils of Z. officinale, E. caryophyllus and E. cardamomum those that presented greater inhibitory effect on P. aeruginosa, with MIC value of 0 , 25% (v / v). The essential oils of E. caryophyllus and E. cardamomum were used for the second stage, because they had a higher antibacterial effect in the initial tests. Thus we can verify the possibility of the use of essential oils as agents to promote a longer shelf life to food.