Insights on the Extraction and Analysis of Phenolic Compounds from Citrus Fruits: Green Perspectives and Current Status

Abstract

Citrus fruits (CF) are highly consumed worldwide, fresh, processed, or prepared as juices and pies. To illustrate the high economic importance of CF, the global production of these commodities in 2021 was around 98 million tons. CF's composition is considered an excellent source of phenolic compounds (PC) as they have a large amount and variety. Since ancient times, PC has been highlighted to promote several benefits related to oxidative stress disorders, such as chronic diseases and cancer. Recent studies suggest that consuming citrus fruits can prevent some of these diseases. However, due to the complexity of citrus matrices, extracting compounds of interest from these types of samples, and identifying and quantifying them effectively, is not a simple task. In this context, several extractive and analytical proposals have been used. This review discusses current research involving CF, focusing mainly on PC extraction and analysis methods, regarding advantages and disadvantages from the perspective of Green Chemistry.

Keywords:

• Analysis
• citrus fruits
• extraction
• green chemistry
• phenolic compounds

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants 2018/14582-5 and 2019/13496-0 from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). J. Viganó, L. de Souza Mesquita, L. C. da Silva, L. S. Contieri, and R. Pizani are grateful to FAPESP (2020/15774-5, 2020/08421-9, 2019/24537-0, 2020/03623-2, 2019/24537-0). This study was Financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brazil (CAPES)—Process 88887.310558/2018-00 and Finance Code 001.