A comparative study of phytochemical investigation and antioxidative activities of six citrus peel species

Over the past few decades, much effort has been devoted to the study of known food products for medicinal applications. Among these, citrus fruits play a key role in providing a wide range of health-beneficial effects but it generates a huge amount of waste products. In an attempt to recover those wastes, peel of six citrus species (C aurantium, C limetta,C limon, C reticulata, C Sinensis osbeck, and C Sinensis thomson) was evaluated for yield, physicochemical properties, phenolic constituents and antioxidant activities. LC-MS/MS analysis showed that the flavonoids neoeriocitrin, luteolin-7-O-neohesperidoside, scoparin and neohesperidin were chemical markers for C limetta, whereas apigenin-6,8-di-C-glycoside was only detected in C Sinensis Osbeck. PCA analysis revealed significant correlations between antioxidant activities and phenolic contents, highlighting a large interspecific variability. These results suggest that Citrus peel by-products may be valuably recycled by industries due to their high yield and transformed into value-added products, with potential interest for the development of functional foods, cosmetics or preventive therapies for some diseases.

Publication year:2021

Keywords:A1 Journal article

Accessibility:Open