Hydrogenation of citral was studied over activated carbon supported Pd nanoparticles (Pd/C catalyst) under atmospheric pressure. Pd/C catalysts were prepared using glucose as a stabilizer and characterized by several techniques such as ultraviolet visible absorption spectroscopy (UV Vis), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). 1 wt.% Pd/C catalyst showed high catalytic activity for the hydrogenation of citral to 3,7-dimethyloctanal with high selectivity. A study on the optimization of the reaction conditions such as the reaction temperature and reaction solvent has been performed. Under optimal experimental conditions, citral conversion of 100% and 3,7-dimethyloctanal selectivity of 96% were obtained after 4 h at 303 K under atmospheric H-2 pressure. 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.