<p>Consumer interest in natural alternatives to synthetic additives has surged in recent years, with essential oils gaining popularity across the culinary, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical sectors. Compared to orange peels (<i>Citrus sinensis</i>), mosambi (<i>Citrus limetta</i>) peels are often less explored for its nutraceutical and health applications, even though the composition of both peels is almost similar. Under this context, this study is aimed at exploring the bioactive profiling of mosambi peels and its oil extraction under different drying conditions. For better efficiency and retention of bioactives, essential oils are generally extracted from freeze-dried peel samples, as freeze-drying helps minimize antioxidant losses due to low-temperature and high vacuum operation. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of dehumidified drying operation on the oil yield, phenolic and flavonoid content, and the chemical composition of essential oils derived from mosambi peels, comparing the results with sophisticated freeze-dried and traditional solar-dried samples. When compared to fresh samples, dehumidified drying enhanced the drying kinetics and obtained an oil yield of 6.56 ± 0.06 g/100 g dry peel comparable to the oil yield in freeze-dried samples (6.78 ± 0.14 g/100 g dried samples). Additionally, the total phenolic content and total flavonoid content retention in dehumidified drying were 79.63 ± 3.15% and 86.99 ± 4.73%, respectively, closely matching the values from freeze-dried samples. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy identified eleven common components in oils derived from fresh and dried peels across different methods, with D-limonene being the major compound. Thus, dehumidified drying proves to be an excellent, cost-effective alternative to freeze-drying for the production of high-quality essential oils from mosambi peels, maintaining comparable bioactive retention, oil yield, and volatile compounds.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>