Biochemical Profiling and Antioxidant Potential of Fruit Tissues: A Comparative Study of Citrus Cultivars Indigenous to Northeast India

Abstract

The different fruit tissues of selected Citrus cultivars of northeast India, namely, Citrus macroptera Montr. (hatkora, HK), Citrus limon (Linn.) Burm. f. (Assam lemon, AL), Citrus maxima Burm. (pummelo, PM), Citrus reticulata Blanco (Khasi mandarin, KM), and Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck (Valencia, VC), were subjected to biochemical profiling and quantification of antioxidant potential. Among the cultivars, HK had significantly higher total phenolic content in juice, peel, and pulp, while VC seeds and AL whole fruit had higher total phenolics. Total flavonoid content was higher in HK juice, pulp, and peel. VC exhibited the highest flavonoid content in whole fruit, while AL exhibited the highest in seeds. In the DPPH assay, HK (seeds, whole fruit), PM (pulp, juice), and AL (peel) exhibited the highest antioxidant capacity. The ability to scavenge ABTS radicals exhibited higher capacity in VC (pulp, juice, and whole fruit), HK (seeds), and KM (peel) in contrast to other cultivars. In the ferric reducing ability, HK seeds resulted in the highest, whereas VC juice resulted in the lowest ability. Among the different tissues of the Citrus cultivars, seeds exhibited the highest ferric reducing capacity, subsequently followed by peels and whole fruit, whereas juice exhibited the lowest reducing capacity. Among the different Citrus cultivars, HK showed considerably greater FRAP values than other Citrus cultivars studied.