Survey of Phenolic Compounds Produced in Citrus

Abstract

Berhow, M., B. Tisserat, K. Kanes, and C. Vandercook. 1996. Survey of Phenolic Compounds Produced in Citrus. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Technical Bulletin No. 1856, 158 pp.

A survey of phenolic compounds, especially flavanones and flavone and flavonol compounds, using high pressure liquid chromatography was performed in Rutaceae, subfamily Aurantioideae, representing 5 genera, 35 species, and 114 cultivars. The average number of peaks, or phenolic compounds, occurring in citrus leaf, flavedo, albedo, and juice vesicles were 21, 17, 15, and 9.3, respectively. The overall composition of four different classes of phenolic compounds absorbing at 285 nm (flavone/ols, flavanones, coumarins/cinnamic acid derivatives, and psoralens) for the Rutaceous species and cultivars were determined in leaf, flavedo, albedo, and juice vesicle tissues. Percentages and concentrations of 11 flavanone glycosides, 3 flavone glycosides, and 1 flavonol glycoside were determined and categorized. Most taxa can be classified by their flavonoid glycosylation pattern as either predominantly neohesperidosyl or predominantly rutinosyl. The dominant neohesperidosyl flavanones were naringin, neoeriocitrin, and neohesperidin and the dominant rutinosyl flavanones were hesperidin, eriocitrin, and narirutin. Cultivars containing mainly neohesperidosyl flavanones also contained neohesperidosyl flavones. Similarly, species and cultivars containing rutinosyl flavanones contained rutinosyl flavones. The data can be used by food processors, chemists, citrus taxonomists, geneticists, and breeders.

Keywords: Aurantioideae, cinnamic acid, Citrus, coumarins, coumaric acid, didymin, diosmin, eriocitrin, flavanones, flavones, flavonols, hesperidin, isorhoifolin, naringin, naringin glucoside, naringin–6"–malonate, narirutin, narirutin glucoside, neoeriocitrin, neohesperidin, poncirin, psoralens, rhoifolin, rutin.

Contents

next page

United States Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service

The material on this page is in the public domain.

Original posting: April 1, 1999.