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Rapid screening and quantification of major organic acids in citrus fruits and their bioactivity studies

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Abstract

Organic acids (OAs) are small non-volatile molecules with widespread usage in processed foods, feeds and instant beverages. The prime aim of this study was to explore major OAs in local citrus fruits (Citrus limetta, Citrus aurantifolia, Citrus nobilis, Citrus karna, Citrus medica, Citrus ichangensis and Citrus aurantium) and assessment of their bioactivities. A RP–HPLC–DAD method was developed using buffer free solvent system for rapid detection and quantification of major OAs from citrus fruits and derived products. Method validation studies showed good linear calibration curve (0.985–0.998) for all OAs. The values of %RSD ranged between 0.0001–1.129 and 0.142–1.941 for interday and intraday variability respectively. The limit of detection and limit of quantification values for different OAs were ranged between 1.5–12 and 5–40 µg mL−1. The juice of above mentioned citrus fruit cultivars were assessed for OAs, total phenolics, free radical scavenging antioxidants and their antimicrobial potential against selected bacterial and fungal strains. The results showed variable contents of phenolics [0.28 ± 0.001–1.17 ± 0.014 mg (GAE) mL−1] and antioxidant compounds (1.26 ± 0.009–2.84 ± 0.006 mg of trolox equivalents mL−1) in all juice samples besides significant antifungal activity against C. albicans and A. niger strains. However, in case of antibacterial activity, only C. aurantifolia showed inhibitory effects against selected strains. It was found that citrus fruits have immense potential for their utilization as economic source of natural OAs and development of value added products, beverages and bio-preservatives.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are very grateful to Director CSIR-IHBT Palampur Dr. Sanjay Kumar for his invaluable guidance and inspiration. Authors are also thankful to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) New Delhi India for financial support under MLP-0070 and DST, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) under grant no. YSS/2015/000097.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food and Nutraceuticals Division, CSIR-HRDC Campus, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, 201 002, India

    Ranjana Sharma, Sarika Verma & Ajay Rana

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Chennai, India

    Ranjana Sharma & Ajay Rana

  3. Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology, College of Home Science, CSK HPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Shalika Rana

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  1. Ranjana Sharma
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  2. Sarika Verma
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  4. Ajay Rana
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Correspondence to Ajay Rana.

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Sharma, R., Verma, S., Rana, S. et al. Rapid screening and quantification of major organic acids in citrus fruits and their bioactivity studies. J Food Sci Technol 55, 1339–1349 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-018-3045-x

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