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Review
. 2023 Feb 14;12(2):481.
doi: 10.3390/antiox12020481.

The Chemical Variability, Nutraceutical Value, and Food-Industry and Cosmetic Applications of Citrus Plants: A Critical Review

Anis Ben Hsouna  1   2 , Carmen Sadaka  3 , Ivana Generalić Mekinić  4 , Stefania Garzoli  5 , Jaroslava Švarc-Gajić  6 , Francisca Rodrigues  7 , Simone Morais  7 , Manuela M Moreira  7 , Eduarda Ferreira  7 , Giorgia Spigno  8 , Tanja Brezo-Borjan  6 , Boutheina Ben Akacha  1 , Rania Ben Saad  1 , Cristina Delerue-Matos  7 , Wissem Mnif  9
Affiliations
Review

The Chemical Variability, Nutraceutical Value, and Food-Industry and Cosmetic Applications of Citrus Plants: A Critical Review

Anis Ben Hsouna et al. Antioxidants (Basel). .

Abstract

Citrus fruits occupy an important position in the context of the fruit trade, considering that both fresh fruits and processed products are produced on a large scale. Citrus fruits are recognized as an essential component of the human diet, thanks to their high content of beneficial nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, terpenes, flavonoids, coumarins and dietary fibers. Among these, a wide range of positive biological activities are attributed to terpenes and flavonoids derivatives. In this review, a list of bibliographic reports (from 2015 onwards) on the phytochemical composition, beneficial effects and potential applications of citrus fruits and their by-products is systematically summarized. In detail, information regarding the nutraceutical and medicinal value closely linked to the presence of numerous bioactive metabolites and their growing use in the food industry and food packaging, also considering any technological strategies such as encapsulation to guarantee their stability over time, were evaluated. In addition, since citrus fruit, as well as its by-products, are interesting alternatives for the reformulation of natural cosmetic products, the sector of the cosmetic industry is also explored. More in-depth knowledge of the latest information in this field will contribute to future conscious use of citrus fruits.

Keywords: Citrus; chemical composition; industrial applications; nutraceutical values; orange peels.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Citrus-fruit wastes: seeds, pulp, pomace and peels.
Figure 2
Figure 2
By-products created as a result of industrial processing of citrus-fruit wastes.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematization of the process from waste citrus peels to purified spray-dried extracts (powders obtained with β-cyclodextrins on the right or pectins on the left, at different extract-to-carrier ratios, and example of a SEM observation), and to their incorporation into PLA (on the right) or PLA/PHB (on the left) films.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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