Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Sprouts from Seeds of Citrus Species

Beatrice Falcinelli, Franco Famiani, Andrea Paoletti, Sara D’Egidio, Fabio Stagnari, Angelica Galieni and Paolo Benincasa
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Beatrice Falcinelli: Dipartimento di ScienzeAgrarie, AlimentariedAmbientali, Università di Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74-06121 Perugia, Italy
Franco Famiani: Dipartimento di ScienzeAgrarie, AlimentariedAmbientali, Università di Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74-06121 Perugia, Italy
Andrea Paoletti: Dipartimento di ScienzeAgrarie, AlimentariedAmbientali, Università di Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74-06121 Perugia, Italy
Sara D’Egidio: Facoltà di Bioscienze e Tecnologie Agro-AlimentariAmbientali, Università di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Fabio Stagnari: Facoltà di Bioscienze e Tecnologie Agro-AlimentariAmbientali, Università di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Angelica Galieni: Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisidell’Economiaagraria, Centro di Ricerca per Orticoltura e Florovivaismo (CREA-OF), Monsampolo del Tronto, 63077 Ascoli Piceno, Italy
Paolo Benincasa: Dipartimento di ScienzeAgrarie, AlimentariedAmbientali, Università di Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74-06121 Perugia, Italy

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-9

Abstract: Seeds from Citrus species represent a relevant by-product of the juice industry and a potential source of bioactive compounds such as phenols and other antioxidants. Sprouting could be an intriguing idea to enhance the content of these compounds, as explored for other fruittree species. In this experiment, the sprouting performance, the concentration of total phenols and phenolic acids, and the antioxidant activity of seeds and sprouts were evaluated for bitter orange ( Citrus aurantium L. seedlings), blonde orange ( Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck cv.Biondocomune), sweet orange ( Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck seedlings), lemon ( Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck cv.Femminello), and mandarin ( Citrus reticulata Blanco cv.Tardivo di Ciaculli). The germination was high for all genotypes except for mandarin, but it took 4–8 weeks. Sprouts did not differ among genotypes for size and generally had hard consistency of cotyledons and a bitter taste. The concentrations of total phenols and phenolic acids of seeds and sprouts varied with the genotype, while the antioxidant activity was not statistically different among treatments. Sprouting increased both the concentration of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity but no correlation was found between them, suggesting that other antioxidants, besides phenols, are present. Given the slow germination and the bitter taste, Citrus sprouts appear unsuitable for homemade production aimed at direct consumption, while they may have perspectives for extraction of food additives, cosmetics, and pharmaceutics.

Keywords: phytochemicals; phenolic acids; by-product; germination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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