Citrus Medica Nutritional, Phytochemical Composition and Health Benefits-A Review

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Page 1 of 44 Food & Function
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Citrus medica: Nutritional, phytochemical composition and health benefits-a review
Navnidhi Chhikara1, Ragni Kour1, Sundeep Jaglan2, Pawan Gupta3, Yogesh Gat1, Anil
Panghal1,*
1
Department of Food Technology and Nutrtion, Lovely Professional University,
Published on 14 March 2018. Downloaded by University of New England on 14/03/2018 06:35:08.
Phagwara, India
2
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CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, India
3
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, India
Corresponding author- anilpanghal@gmail.com
Abstract
Citrus medica (Citron) is an underutilized fruit plant having various bioactive components in
all parts of the plant. Major bioactive compounds present are iso-limonene, citral, limonene,
phenolics, flavonones, vitamin C, pectin, linalool, decanal and nonanal, accounting for
several health benefits. Pectin and heteropolysachharides also play a major role as dietary
fibers. The potential impact of citron and its bioactive components to prevent or reverse
destructive deregulated processes responsible for the disease has attracted different
researchers’ attention. The fruit has numerous nutraceutical benefits proven with
pharmacological study, for example, anti-catarrhal, capillary protector, anti–hypertensive,
diuretic, antibacterial, antifungal, anthelmintic, antimicrobial, analgesic, strong antioxidant,
anticancerous, antidiabetic, estrogenic, antiulcer, cardioprotective and antihyperglycemic.
The review explores new insights on the benefits of citron in various body parts. Throughout
the world citron has been used in making carbonated drinks, alcoholic beverages, syrup,
candied peels, jams, marmalade, cordials and many other value added products which makes
it an appropriate raw material to develop healthy processed food. In present review fruit
taxonomical classification, beneficial phytochemicals, antioxidant activities and health
benefits have been discussed.
Keywords
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Citrus medica; nutraceutical benefits; functional food; phytochemicals; cardiovascular
diseases; cancer; diabetes
1. Introduction
In this modern epoch of industrialization, hectic and intellect practices, lots of traditional

foods are replaced by convenient and processed food containing high saturated fat, high sugar
and high salt diet. These food habits have been associated with various health hazards like
hypercholesteremia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and other major chronic degenerative
diseases (Khatkar, Panghal, and Singh, 2009). There is an immense need of healthy foods
which, along with nutrients can also boost up the health profile of the consumer. Fruits and
vegetables are a good source of nutrients, phytochemicals and health protective constituents
(Panghal, Kumar, Dhull, Gat, and Chhikara, 2017). Beside this, there is an increase in
demand of plant based products in both developing and developed countries (Panghal,
Janghu, Virkar, Gat, Kumar, and Chhikara, 2018). Thus, we can use some fruits like citron
(C. medica) in different formulations and can utilize its health potential in reducing the
chance various common diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 400
g fruits in daily diet.
Citrus medica (citron/ kimb), a member of the Rutaceae family, is a short tree with yellowish
orange round or oblong fruit of size varying from 8 cm to 12 cm in length (Onyeyirichi,
Ogechi, Okpe, Jerry and Gero, 2014). C. medica, originated in India and China, spread to the
western countries by passing through Persia (Zohary, Hopf, and Weiss, 2012; Langgut, 2015)
and is available in India, China, Japan, Bangladesh, Arabia, Australia, Africa, tropical and
subtropical areas, in the months of October to January (Onyeyirichi, Ogechi, Okpe, Jerry and
Gero, 2014). The branches are irregularly arranged with thick and stiff sharp spines. The fruit
is full of acidic pulp having small white oval shaped seeds (Figure 1). Citron has long been
known to contain many important nutritional components such as phenolics, flavanones,
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ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and pectin, which are recognized as potent antioxidants. The fruit
peel oil contains iso-limonene (39.37%) citral (23.12%) and limonene (21.78%) as major
components and the fruit is rich in vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin A, vitamin C,
niacin and thiamin (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar and Rahman, 2009). The fruit peel essential oils
have several phytochemicals with high free radical scavenging and anti-fungal activity (Al-

Yahya, Mothana, Al-Said, El-Tahir, Al-Sohaibani, and Rafatullah, 2013). The fruit-pulp and
peel is screened against pathogens by various researchers and can be used to cure sore throat,
cough, asthma, thirst, hiccough, earache, and vomiting (Onyeyirichi, Ogechi, Okpe, Jerry and
Gero, 2014). It is a potent antiscorebutic and used for expelling poison and correcting fetid
breath. The fruit extract is used as a sedative; fruits and seeds are cardiac tonic and useful in
palpitation (Kirtikar and Basu, 1999; Mukherjee and Wahile, 2006).
Methodology: Major well-known bibliometric information sources are the Web of Science,
Scopus, Mendeley and Google Scholar. Several keywords like nutrition value of C. medica,
C. medica utilization, C. medica pharmaceutics, health benefit of C. medica, C. medica
products, food application of C. medica, C. medica were chosen to obtain a large range of
papers to be analysed. A final inventory of 141 scientific sources was made after sorting and
classifying them according to different criteria based on topic, academic field, country of
origin and year of publication. The comprehensive review of different literature, data source
and research paers seeks to find and discuss about various processing aspects in food and
utilization of citrus medica. The recent upsurge of consumer interest for health promoting
product has opened up new vistas for citrus medica products research and development.
2. Historical background
C. medica are believed to originate in Southeast Asia, and spread to the Mediterranean and
other continents through Persia (Zohary, Hopf, and Weiss, 2012). Textural archaeological
evidences prove its existence from 200 BC onwards. Later it spread throughout the world. It
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has been suggested that C. medica started the journey from India to Afghanistan, Persia,
Syria and end it in Egypt (Gur, 1974). It is evidenced from research that C. medica is one of
the most ancestral species of the genus Citrus along with pomelo and mandarin. C. medica is
one the true and biological species of the citrus family and outlines the segmental ancestory
of 46 citrus accessions. The commercially important citrus species like lime, lemon, orange,

grapefruit etc are actually the hybrids of C. medica,C. reticulata, and C. maxima. These three
ancestral species are responsible for the development of the complex floral anatomy which
later on develops to become a complex fruit of citrus family (Wu, Terol, Ibanez, López-
García, Pérez-Román, Borredá, and Curk 2018). C. medica belongs to kingdom Plantae,
subkingdom Tracheobionta, division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, subclass Rosidae,
order Sapindales, family Rutaceae, genus Citrus and species – medica (Mabberley, 1997).
3. Physical properties
The flevedo is the outer skin, albedo is the white fibrous part, and meat is the sour and juicy
part of the fruit (Figure 1). The physical properties of C. medica consist of moisture content
of shell and meat, fruit mass, fruit volume, length, width, thickness, geometric mean
diameter, sphericity, surface area, shell ratio (Table 1). This information is useful for
postharvest handling, processing equipments, the designing of machines for processing,
grading, packaging and transportation.
4. Chemical composition
The nutritional composition of C. medica on and dry basis comprises of moisture (85g/100g)
(6.66g/100g), fat (6g/100 gm), fibre (11.33 g/100g), calcium (4.66 mg/100g), phosphorus
(0.67mg/100), iron (1.73mg/100gm), thiamine (0.13 mg/100 g), riboflavin (0.067mg/100
g), niacin (0.067mg/100 g), vitamin C (2.6 mg/100 g), magnesium (1.26 mg/100 g),
potassium (1.8 mg/100 g), copper (0.4 mg/100 g), manganese (0.046mg/100 g), zinc
(0.046 mg/100 g), chromium (0.046 mg/100 g) and it gives (380 kcal/100 g) (Gopalan, Rama
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Sastri, and Balasubramanian, 1980) of fruit which makes it nutritionally adequate and
beneficial for health. Citrus medica is also rich in dietery fibre and polysaccharides like
pectin and hetropolysaccharides, also the heteropolysaccharides are composed of different
sugars like arabinose, galactose, glucose, rhamnose, and xylose, with a molar ratio of
3.0:7.0:4.1:1.0:1.5 (He, Liang, Zhang, and Pan, 2014). The fruit is rich in alkaloids,

flavonoids, phenols, carbohydrates and mucilage; peels have alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids,
phenols and carbohydrates; leaves contain alkaloids, flavanoids, steroids and glycosides
(Negi, Vijay, and Melkani, 2010; Kabra, Bairagi, Mahamuni, and Wanare, 2012). The
flavonoids present in the fruits are hesperidin:3,5,6- trihydroxyl-4,7-dimethoxy flavone;
3,5,6-trihydroxy-3’,4’,7- trimethoxy flavones (Khare, 2007). The chemical contents in citrus
fruits is highly influenced by various factors such as genotypic differences, preharvest
climatic conditions and cultural practices, maturity and harvesting methods (Bermejo and
Cano, 2012) , major differences in nutritional and phytochemical composition are attributed
mainly to genetic factors. Climatic and cultural factors also affected the fruit quality, and
anticipate or delay the collection generally results in a loss of bioactive compounds of C.
medica. At commercial harvest stage C. medica has the higher amounts of organic acids.
The fruit extract has antihyperglycemic effect mainly through its hypolipidemic and its
antioxidant effects as well as through inhibition of progression and deterioration of glycemia,
probably due to the presence of flavonoid compounds (Kirtikar and Basu, 1999; Nadkarni,
1996). The fruit-pulp has numerous nutraceutical importance, it is an anti-catarrhal, capillary
protector, anti–hypertensive, diuretic, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-helminthic, antimicrobial,
analgesic, strong antioxidant, anti-cancerous, anti-diabetic, estrogenic, antiulcer, cardio-
protective, antihyperglycemic etc. (Kirtikar and Basu, 1999; Mukherjee and Wahile, 2006;
Onyeyirichi, Ogechi, Okpe, Jerry and Gero, 2014).
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The peel contains coumarins, limettin, scoparone, scopoletin and umbelliferone, while seeds
contain limonin, limonol and nomilinic acid (Panara, 2012; Govindachari, Suresh,
Gopalakrishnan, Masilamani, and Banumathi, 2000). The peel extract have high content of
phenolic compounds and a good antioxidant activity, therefore can be used to treat several
diseases. The peel possesses citro-flavonoids which are stomachic, stimulant, exporant, and

diuretic, and they are anti-inflammatory and antihistamine in nature, thus used as a tonic.
(Onyeyirichi, Ogechi, Okpe, Jerry and Gero 2014). It is also beneficial to prevent and heal of
spleen tumors (Nicolosi, La Malfa, El-Otmani, Negbi, and Goldschmidt, 2005). The leaf oil
contains limonene, linalool, citronellol, citronellal, citronellyl acetate and isopulegol (Gurdip,
Kapoor, and Om, 1999). The essential oils of the peel (Table 2) and leaf (Table 3) have
several phytochemicals which are known for having free radical scavenging and anti-fungal
activity (Chutia, Bhuyan, Pathak, Sarma, and Boruah, 2009).
5. Bioactive compounds in Citrus medica
The bioactive compounds are essential and non-essential compounds from plant secondary
metabolites and have therapeutic potential due to their antioxidant activities. The carotenoids,
flavonoids and phenolics are the main phytochemicals present in fruits and vegetables. Like
other beneficial fruits, citron has a significant range of bioactive compounds. The ones which
have received particular attention in fruit are the flavonoids, alkaloids and carotenoids. Due
to these important bioactive compounds, citron has a higher therapeutic value than other
important fruits.
5.1 Flavonoids
Flavonoids are a group of polyphenolic compounds having several health benefits and C.
medica juice is extremely rich in flavonoids for example neoeriocitrin (27.6 mg/100 ml),
naringin (26.1 mg/100 ml) and neohesperidin (22.1 mg/100 ml) are the abundantly present
flavonones, also apigenin di-C-glucoside (6.22 mg/100ml), diosmetin di-C-glucoside (4.38
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mg/100 ml), rhoifolin (6.06 mg/100 ml) and chrysoeriol 7-O-neohesperidoside (4.89 mg/100
ml) are present in significant amount. Despite of having high flavonoid content, there are
very few industrial applications of the juice because of less production (Gattuso, Caristi,
Gargiulli, Bellocco, Toscano, and Leuzzi, 2006). The flavonoids concentrations in fruits are
dependent on degree of maturity and time of harvesting (Venturini et al 2014). Citron

flavonoids also exert neuroprotective effects as they are involved in modulation neuronal
activities and mental health including brain plasticity, behavior, mood, depression and
cognition (Table 2). Naringin has neuroprotective effect through anti-inflammatory activity
on survival of dopaminergic neurons and on integrity of nigrostriatal pathway of Parkinson’s
disease.
5.2 Terpenes
The essential peel oil contains α-terpineol, and some oxygenated monoterpenes for example,
limonene, citral (geranial and neral), geranyl acetate, neryl acetate and monoterpenic
hydrocarbon mycrene. β-pinene, γ-terpinene, α-terpinolene and trans-α-bergamotene are also
present in a considerable amount. Some other terpenes found in oil fraction are linalool,
geraniol, citronellol and valencene (Verzera, Trozzi, Zappalá, Condurso, and Cotroneo,
2005). The roots of C. medica contain campesterol, stigmasterol, sitosterol and cholesterol
(Douglas and Illman, 1985).
5.2.1 Limonene
Limonene is one of the main constituents found in essential oils, extracted from citrus peels.
Limonene (4-isopropenyl-1-methylcyclohexene) having molar mass 136.23 g/mol is usually
colourless or pale yellow coloured liquid, having a characteristic citrus smell (R-(+)-
limonene) or pine like smell (S-(-)-limonene). Limonene is a racemic mixture of two isomers
i.e. (R-(+)-limonene) and (S-(-)-limonene) (Figure 2) where the former is present in higher
concentration and thus exhibit wide applications (Malkom and Wróblewska, 2016). The
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monoterpene compound, limonene, can be extracted by distillation or pyrolytic processes and
has numerous applications in the industry. Simple distillation or steam distillation of citrus
peels is one of the natural methods to obtain limonene, which helps in recycling of the waste
citrus peels from various food industries. This extraction method leads to the formation of
inconsistent quality of limonene with a minute quantity of undesirable substances. Limonene

is readily oxidised forming oxygenated derivatives like perillyl alcohol (Malkom and
Wróblewska, 2016). Limonene which is commonly present in citrus fruits for e.g. citron,
sweet orange, tangerine, lemon and lime is R-(+)-limonene is readily soluble in acetone and
benzene as well as methanol and ethanol, the boiling point is 176˚C (at 760 mmHg), the
melting point is -80˚C, and the density is 0.94 g/dm3 (Merck, 2015).
R-(+)-limonene extraction involves separation of the organic layer from the squeezed juice of
the whole citrus fruit followed by vacuum pyrolysis. This process is carried out at lower
temperature i.e. (75-100˚C) as limonene is easily degraded at high temperatures as compared
to classical pyrolysis. The technological scheme of the limonene production proposed by
GEA Westfalia Company (Pecoroni, 2001) is shown in Figure 3.
R-(+)-limonene plays a vital role in relaxing and stabilizing the nervous system and therefore
used as a sedative. It imparts a lemony flavour in the food items naturally so best to be used
as flavouring agent in many processed food products for e.g. carbonated and sweetened
beverages, fruit juices, squashes, sherbets and ready to drink shakes, ice creams, sorbets,
candies and sweets (Uemura, Hata, Toda, and Weine, 1997). Since, it has antibacterial,
antifungal properties, so used as disinfectant, bioinsecticide and biopesticide for organic
farming (Ciriminna, Lomeli-Rodriguez, Carà, Lopez-Sanchez, and Pagliaro, 2014). Being
cheap, biodegradable and non- toxic, it is used as an alternative solvent for organic synthesis
of many useful intermediates in organic chemistry and industries except oxidation reactions
(Merck, 2015).
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Limonene has great potential in terms of its numerous health benefits. Limonene is used in
healing of various skin orders by destroying the growth of fungus/ bacteria. Limonene oil
improves sense of taste, overcome poor digestion and gives relief in toothache, abscesses i.e.
a pocket of pus caused by an infection due to cavities and bacterial activity in teeth (Hink and
Feel, 1986). The analgesic effect is helpful in relieving headaches, stomach ache, and many

other pains in different parts of the body. As proven high cholesterol in the body leads to gall
stones but limonene helps to resolve the gall bladder problems (Sun, 2007), it is also
beneficial in improving the swollen tonsils and sore throat, it promotes bowel movements and
helps in the condition of constipation, and it also relaxes the muscles and prevents muscle
stiffness and helps to overcome fatigue. It helps to lower down the levels of uric acid and thus
it is very helpful for the patients suffering from arthritis and gout (Marino, Paterniti, Cordaro,
Morabito, Campolo, Navarra, et al., 2015). High doses of limonene increase production and
activation of a protein called TGF-beta, which programs the cancer cells to self-destruct
(Crowell, 1996) and thus help in fighting breast cancer, pancreatic cancer.
5.2.2 Citral
Citral, a pale yellow liquid, is one of the major components in the peels of the citrus fruits
and is an acyclic monoterpene aldehyde (open structure) (Figure 2). The IUPAC name of
citral is 3, 7-dimethyl-2, 6-octadienal. The molecular formula of Citral is C10H16O and boiling
point is 77˚C. Citral occurs in nature as a mixture of two mono-terpenoid isomers which are
Geranial (Citral A) and Neral (Citral B) (Villalobos, 2008). Geranial and Neral are light oily
liquids so these are insoluble in water, but they are soluble in ether, alcohol, benzyl benzoate,
diethyl phthalate, glycerol, propylene glycol, mineral oil and essential oils (Villalobos, 2008).
Geranial is having a strong lemon odour but it is less sweet than Neral. Some studies proved
that Citral is soluble in water at about 30˚C where Neral has more affinity to water than
Geranial (Gramajo de Doz, Cases, Díaz, and Sólimo, 2007). It has also been proved that
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ethanol enhances the solubility of Citral in water during its extraction (Gramajo de Doz,
Cases, Díaz, and Sólimo, 2007). Citral possess a pale yellow liquid which has a strong lemon
like flavour and it can be obtained by the process of fractional distillation which is performed
under reduced pressure from citrus fruits for example C. medica.

Citral is a volatile compound, which makes it very reactive and antibacterial and can also be

used as insecticides, which are useful in agriculture practices. It also has an antioxidant
property because it combines with free radicals i.e. the reactive oxygen species, and prevents
the plants from free radicals induced oxidative damage (Scolnik, Servadio, and Abramovici,
1994). It is antiseptic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, carminative, diuretic and central
nervous stimulating effects (Carbajal, Casaco, Arruzazabala, Gonzalez, and Tolon, 1989).
Citral was found to possess anticancer effect against prostate gland tumour in various strains
of rats (Scolnik, Servadio, and Abramovici, 1994). In-vitro studies have proved that Citral is
able to induce apoptosis of breast cancer as well as leukemia cells (Dudai, Weinstein, Krup,
Rabinski, and Ofir, 2005; Xia, Liang, Song, Chen, Chen, and Hong, 2013). Citral also helps
in repelling the insects and herbivores with the help of the volatile substances (Dudareva,
Pichersky, and Gershenzon, 2004). Citral possesses antifungal activity against Aspergillus
flavus, as it breaks down the plasma membrane of the spore and enters inside it and then
harms it by interfering with the DNA and other cell organelles which disturbs the metabolism
of the spore and it fails to germinate (Luo, Jiang, Huang, Xiao, Li, and Zou, 2003).
The flower of the plant contains caffeine as the main alkaloid followed by theophylline, it is
observed that the androecium of the plant contains 0.9% caffeine concentration in dry weight
of which is close to the caffeine content of an Arabic coffee bean (Kretschmar and Baumann,
1999).
5.3 Carotenoids
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Carotenoids, also called tetraterpenoids, are naturally occurring pigments that serve as
components of photosynthetic light assimilation. These compounds quench choloroplast
triplet states which stabilize protein lipid interaction, scavenge free radicals, scavenge
reactive oxygen species and protect plant pigments from photodamage. Carotenoids are
products of isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway with the role of light harvesting and

antioxidants. The carotenoid content in citron can be classified as pure hydrocarbons
(carotenes) and oxygenated derivatives of hydrocarbons (xanthophylls). Carotenoids are the
major components present in the citrus juices, the peel and juice colors are mainly due to the
presence of these colored pigments. The identified carotenoids of citrus family are β-
Cryptoxanthin, β-carotene, cis-violaxanthin, lycopene, lutein, xanthin,violaxanthin,
zeaxanthin where C. medica has high amount of β-Cryptoxanthin (Table 4) (Fanciullino,
Dhuique-Mayer, Luro, Casanova, Morillon, and Ollitrault, 2006).
6. Functional importance of citron
Citron is considered as good source of bioactive compounds which have antioxidant and
antimicrobial properties. These compounds present are accounting for different defence and
protective mechanism. The citrus fruits are known to have a large variety of secondary
metabolites for example vitamin C, flavonones, phenolics, pectin, and limunoids which are
proved to inhibit human cancer cell proliferation and induces programmed cell death with the
help of these secondary metabolites (Tripoli, 2007).
6.1 Antioxidant activity
C. medica tends to possess a huge amount of antioxidants in the peel as well as pulp. The free
radicals are typically highly reactive short-lived species with an unpaired valence electron
and causes oxidative damage, oxidative stress and mutations in the genes, thus leading to the
development of oncogenes, initiators of the malignant tumours (Silalahi, 2002). The
antioxidants have an immense effect in prevention of cancer. Antioxidants controls
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uncontrolled mitosis and thus can aids on the cancer patients in their treatment. Munwar et al.
(2015) studied the antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity of C. medica extracts and
the antioxidant activity was determined by total phenol content, DPPH and Nitric oxide
radical scavenging effect. The phytochemical investigation showed the presence of alkaloid,
carbohydrate, Glycoside, Triterpenoids, Resins and Tannins which work as antioxidants.

According to different studies the highest antioxidant activity is observed in the pulp extract
by DPPH method, fruit juice is followed by the pulp extract by nitric oxide method and the
peel extract by reductive ability method (Munwar, Roy, and Rahman, 2015). Phenolic
compound and ascorbic acid are identified as possible antioxidants in citron (Munwar, Roy,
and Rahman, 2015). Phenolic compound were able to scavenge radicals and to chelate metals
while ascorbic acid can play a pro-oxidant role in the presence of transition metals. The C.
medica extracts can effectively scavenge various free radicals under in vitro conditions. The
antioxidant activity is due to the presence of phenolic compound or vitamin C present in the
fruits (Munwar, Roy, and Rahman, 2015; Bocco, Cuvelier, Richard, and Berset, 1998;
Cadenas, 1997; Cao, Sofic, and Prior, 1997).
6.2 Antimicrobial activity
Antimicrobial agents inhibit microorganism’s growth with the help of enzymes that hinders
the essential pathways of the microbes; block their physiological, metabolic activities as well
as reproduction. The antimicrobial activity of fruit juice and ethanolic extracts of root peel
and pulp of citron examined against seven bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus,
Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseodomonas aeruginosa and
Proteus vulgaris), two fungi (Aspergillus flavus and A. niger) and a yeast Candida albicans
of clinical origin (Sah, Juyal, and Melkani, 2011) and found that all extracts and fruit juice
showed varied level of antibacterial activity against test bacteria. Antifungal activity was
shown by only root extract and fruit juice whereas the yeast (C. albicans) was resistant to all
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tested plant samples. Different researchers have reported antibacterial activity in fruit and
antifungal activity in roots (Sah, Juyal, and Melkani, 2011; Cvetnic and Vladimir- Knezevic,
2004; Fisher and Phillips, 2006; Conte, Speranza, Sinigaglia, and Del Nobile, 2007;
Sanguinetti, Posteraro, Romano, Battaglia, Lopizzo, De Carolis, et al., 2007).

6.3 Anticancer properties

Cancer is induced by free radicals produced in the body or some mutations occurred in the
genetic material, leading to uncontrolled mitosis which forms the tumours. The free radicals
the highly reactive oxygen species (ROS), and they comprise of lipid peroxides, hypochlorite
radical, hydroxyl radical, hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen etc. These free radicals result in
cellular damage as they are highly reactive, thus antioxidants are required in the body to
counterbalance these free radicals. C. medica has a number of bioactive compounds which
act as antioxidants which can help the cancer patients. The antioxidants present in the peel,
fruit juice and fruit pulp of C. medica possesses a protective role against cancer, it not only
has antioxidant properties but it also function as anticarcinogenic and anti-inflammatory
agent and prevents lipid peroxidation (Aruoma, 1998; Nandan and Vangalapati, 2015).
Jacob et al. (2000) have proved that the limonoids present in the citrus peels act as
anticancerous agents, when they were administrated in mice, it was found that five limonoids
agylocons (limonion, nomilin,obacunone, isoobacunoic acid, ichangin) induced signigicant
amounts of glutathione-S-transferase (GST) which is an antioxidant enzyme found in the
liver and intestinal mucosa. GST plays a major role in the detoxification enzyme system. It
acts as an enzyme which catalyzes the conjugation of glutathione with many carcinogenic
compounds which are highly reactive in nature. The inhibitory effects of two limonoid
aglycons (limonin and nomilin) reduced the incidence of tumours by more than 50% at
10mg/dose (Jacob, Hasegawa, and Manners, 2000).
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6.4 Antihyperglycemic effect
Hetta et al. (2013) studied the antihyperglycemic effect of C. medica and demonstrated that
the when the oral administration of the plant extract will be given to the diabetic rats, it will
decrease fasting plasma glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin also it will increase insulin
hormone in the blood which will help in lowering down the blood glucose level. According to

this study the 70% aqueous MeOH leaf extract is proven to have an antihyperglycemic effect
which can be due to the presence of antioxidants, hypolipidemic effect and due to the
presence of flavonoids which work as co-factors in glucose metabolism and leads to
declining of blood glucose level. Therefore C. medica can be used as a natural product for
management of diabetes (Hetta, El-Alfy, Yassin, Abdel-Rahman, and Kadry, 2013). Since the
allopathic antidiabetic medicines have numerous side effects including diarrhoea, skin
infection, weight gain, nausea, respiratory tract infection, liver damage, renal disease,
neuropathy, hypertension etc thus, herbal drugs are the possible alternatives because they
have natural healing power (DiPiro, 2008; Trivelli, Ranney, and Lai, 1971). Kabra et al.
(2012) observed that the ethanolic extract of C. medica exhibited antidiabetic activity in the
streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, evidenced by high insulin levels in rats. C. medica
possess insulin secretagogue bioactivity i.e. increase in the insulin secretion from pancreas.
The decrease in the plasma glucose level in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats is thought
to be due to the presence of steroids, phenolics, flavonoids, alkaloids and volatile oils in the
ethanolic extract of C. medica (Kabra, Bairagi, and Wanare, 2012).
6.5 Cardioprotective potential
The hectic lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits have increased the chances of stress induced
diseases. The cardiovascular disease like artherosclerosis, coronary artery disease,
arrhythmia, thrombosis, congenital heart disease etc suppresses the blood or oxygen supply to
the heart and leads to angina and then myocardial infarction (Murugesan, Revathi, and
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Manju, 2011), which is one of the major life threatening ailments in the world. Al-Yahya et
al. (2013) studied the cardio protective potential of C. medica of the plant, and demonstrated
that the phenolics and flavonoidal contents of C. medica, show a protective effect against
isoproterenol (ISO)-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. ISO induced cardiac dysfunction,

increases the lipid peroxidation which forms many free radicals, it also increases the levels of

plasma cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), low density lipoproteinds (LDL-C), and very low
density lipoproteins (VLDL-C). According to histopathological investigations, myocardial
necrosis and carditis (inflammation in cardiac muscle) occurred when ISO was induced in the
cardiac muscles. Al-Yahya et al. (2013) reported that the ethanolic extract of C. medica
decreased the level of cholesterol to 200 mg/dl, triglycerides to <150 mg/dl, low density
lipoproteins to <100 mg/dl and very low density lipoproteins to 2-30 mg/dl which are the
normal levels. The ethanolic extract increased the levels of marker enzymes viz. ALT
(Alanine Aminotransferase), AST (Aspartate Aminotransferase), LDH (Lactate
dehydrogenase) and CK (Creatinine kinase) having a preventive effect against myocardial
damage. Thus C. medica can be useful in preventing cardiac dysfunction in ISO-induced
cardiac damage and can demonstrates cardioprotective potential due to its potent antioxidants
and free radical scavenging activity (Al-Yahya, Mothana, Al-Said, El-Tahir, Al-Sohaibani,
and Rafatullah, 2013).
7. Traditional, industrial uses and food applications
Green consumerism is favouring the usage of natural food additives with minimum impact on
environment and is leading to drastic change in society and market (Yadav et al., 2014).
Almost 80% of food energy and all essential nutrients are supplied by plant and plant based
products (Panghal et al., 2006). Citron has wider applications in different culinary products
due to its flavouring, coloring, and health benefits. Citron has sustainable usage in functional
and health food formulations.
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7.1 Traditional usage
C. medica possess a huge variety of phytochemicals having disease preventive properties.
Chinese believe that “food and drug should come from the same source” and use flavonoid
rich citrus fruits in their diet to improve their health and have benefits of these functional
properties (Lu, Zhang, Bucheli, and Wei, 2006). Peel and edible parts of the fruits are also

consumed in various traditional dishes like soup, tea, prawn dishes etc.
High carotenoid content of citron are responsible for good colour characteristics and is used
in different products. Natural colour foods are replacing artificial colors due to their toxicity,
carcinogenicity and other health adverse effects. Prompona et al. (2012) prepared citron
based alcoholic beverages with perfect colour intensity and also have potential anticancer and
antioxidant properties. (Prompona, Kandylis, Tsakiris, Kanellaki, and Kourkoutas, 2012).
7.2 Source of pectin
Pectin is a heteropolysaccharide, which means it has different sugar moieties and they
compile to form a single complex molecule, usually present in the plant cell walls. Both parts
of the fruit are usable, the pulp is used to make edible products and peel is used as a source of
pectin (McGready, 1996). Pectin in C. medica is high methoxy pectin. Pectin is used as
stabilising, emulsifying and gelling agent in different food samples. It is also used in
medicines, ointments and creams, sometimes added as stabilizer in fruit juices and milk based
products. Pectin has been used as a source of fibre in the diet, and thus it gives a satiety value.
There are some medicinal properties of pectin for example it is used against diarrhoea, used
for detoxification and to lower down the blood glucose level (Stephen and Churms, 1995).
7.3 Food applications
In 19th century, C. medica was used in savoury dishes in the form of citron vinegar and
ravigote vinegar with citron zest for a tinge of citrus flavour. The fruit is also used as
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different dishes for example, fruit is preserved in sugar and mustard and used as a side dish,
the citron zest is rubbed on sugar for the preparation cookies, zest is used in whipped cream,
in meringues and vanilla puddings, the peels are also dried, candied and used in marmalades,
chopped citrons is used in frosting and icing of plum cakes, the juice of citron is used to make
citron syrup, citron liqueur, mousse, jellies, sorbets, green tea cream, the slices of citron are

used in cherry compote, the essence of citron is used in many puddings like Chantilly mousse
for aroma. In modern day cuisine citron is still used a raw material for wine making, a
flavouring agent in bakery industries and side dishes of savoury dishes (Brigand, and Nahon,
2016).
7.4 Applications in cosmetics and medicines
The natural essential oil of C. medica have a wide range of therapeutic uses and cosmetic
applications for example in perfume industry, in cosmetic lotions, bath soaps, hair rinsers,
body sprays, room sprays etc. The essential oils are also helpful in dissolving gall stones,
curing headache, nausea and stomach ailments. Since the essential oils exhibit a good
antibacterial activity it is also used in various skin disorders (Qiao, Xie, Zhang, Zhang, Fan,
Yao, and Pan, 2008).
8. Conclusion
C. medica is the most ancient wild crop of citrus family known to have various
pharmacological and nutraceutical properties. Citron can be a good source for making new
varieties of processed food which can meet the nutritional requirements of the consumer, it
has a good shelf life and thus it can be incorporated in many drinks also jams, jellies,
marmalades, green tea etc can be made out of it. The presence of phytochemicals in the peels
and leaves are responsible for showing antioxidant effects which have protective effect
against many diseases like diabetes, cancer, hypercholesterolemia and various other oxidative
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stresses induced chronic diseases. These peels are the waste materials and thus a good
utilization of waste material can be done by using the peels in different value added products
and medicines. The plant can be utilized at a large extent and the consumer may receive the
health benefits through the food products which are incorporated with C. medica.
Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest.
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Table 1. Physical properties of Citrus medica (Rafiee, Keramat Jahromi, Jafari,
Sharifi, Mirasheh, and Mobli, 2007)
Properties Values
Moisture content of shell % (w.b.) 84.90
Moisture content of fruit meat % (w.b.) 77.34
Fruit mass (gm) 291.90

Fruit volume (cm3) 456.83

Length, L (cm) 10.956
Width, W (cm) 9.305
Thickness, T (cm) 8.976
PL (mm2) 7063.61
PW (mm2) 7933.39
PT (mm2) 8137.77
Geometric mean diameter(mm) 97.02
Sphericity (%) 89
Surface area (cm2) 304.1231
Shell ratio (w.b.) (%) 62
Shell ratio (d.b.) (%) 66
PL, PW, PT – projected areas perpendicular to L, W, T.
Table 2. Constituents of peel essential oil from Citrus medica
Name of Amount Process of extraction and Biological Activities Effect of Processing

constituents (%) yield
Hydrodistillation (39.78%) Anticancerous Stability against oxidation
Isolimonene 39.78 (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar (Crowell, 1996). (Beristain, Azuara, and
and Rahman, 2009) Vernon‐Carter, 2002).
Hydrodistillation (23.12%) Antiseptic, Stable with steam
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar antimicrobial, anti- distillation and heat stable.
and Rahman, 2009) inflammatory, (Villalobos, 2008)
carminative, diuretic
Citral 23.12
(Carbajal, Casaco,
Arruzazabala,
Gonzalez, and Tolon,
1989)
Water distillation (39.3%), Antifungal, Heat stable at 475˚C.
steam distillation (81.6%), Antibacterial (Mkhize, van der Gryp,
HS-SPME (Headspace - (Uemura, Hata, Toda, Danon, and Görgens,
Limonene 21.78 Solid Phase Microextraction) and Weine, 1997) 2016)
(48.2%) (Md Othman,
Hassan, Nahar, Basar, Jamil,
and Sarker, 2016)
Water distillation (1%), Antimicrobial Non-reactive to chemicals
β-Myrcene 2.70 steam distillation (2.2%), (Okunowo, Oyedeji, and a renewable
Likens-Nikerson Extraction Afolabi, and Matanmi, compound (Behr, Johnen,
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(1.6%) (Md Othman, Hassan, 2013). L., Wintzer, Willstumpf,

Nahar, Basar, Jamil, and and Dinges, 2013)
Sarker, 2016)
Hydodistillation (2.51%) Anti-inflammatory -
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar (Pereira, Barreira,
Neryl acetate 2.51 and Rahman, 2009) Bijttebier, Pieters,
Neves, Rodrigues, and
Custódio, 2017).
Hydrodistillation (2.25%) Anti-inflammatory, -

(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar antibacterial
Neryl and Rahman, 2009) (Pereira, Barreira,
2.25
Alcohal Bijttebier, Pieters,
Neves, Rodrigues, and
Custódio, 2017)
HS-SPME (9.2%) (Md Antitumor and Heat stable at 350–600 °C
Othman, Hassan, Nahar, antimicrobial (Han, (Leiner, Stolle,
Linalool 0.94 Basar, Jamil, and Sarker, Cho, Cho, Byeon, Ondruschka, Netscher,
2016) Jeon, Kim, and Shin, and Bonrath, 2013)
2016)
Hydodistillation (0.80%) Antibacterial, Heat stable (Rodrigues,
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar antifungal (Mirzaei- Caramão, dos Santos,
4-Terpineol 0.80 and Rahman, 2009) Najafgholi, Tarighi, Dariva, and Oliveira,
Golmohammadi, and 2003).
Taheri, 2017)
HS-SPME (0.1%) (Md Antioxidant (Zancan, -
Othman, Hassan, Nahar, Marques, Petenate,
β-Bisabolene 0.71
Basar, Jamil, and Sarker, and Meireles, 2002)
2016)
Hydrodistillation and steam Neuroprotective -
distillation system (0.3%) (Viveros-Paredes,
(Md Othman, Hassan, Nahar, González-Castañeda,
Caryophyllen
0.59 Basar, Jamil, and Sarker, Gertsch, Chaparro-
e
2016) Huerta, López-Roa,
Vázquez-Valls, and
Flores-Soto, 2017).
Hydodistillation (0.52%) Antioxidant, Stable at a low
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar Antimicrobial temperature of
and Rahman, 2009) (Zheljazkov, 20˚C.(Gainsford, Hosie,
β-Terpinyl
0.52 Semerdjieva, and Weston (2001)
acetate
Dincheva, Kacaniova,
Astatkie, Radoukova,
and Schlegel, 2017)
Water distillation (0.4%) Antimicrobial -
(Md Othman, Hassan, Nahar, (Bassolé, Lamien-
α- Basar, Jamil, and Sarker, Meda, Bayala,
0.48
Bergamotene 2016) Tirogo, Franz,
Novak, and Dicko,
2010)
1,3,6- Hydrodistillation (0.43%) Antioxidant (Btissam, -
0.43
Octatriene, (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar Rajae, Amina,
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3,7-dimethyl- and Rahman, 2009) Brigitte, and

, (Z) Mohamed, 2015)
Hydrodistillation (0.41%) It is allergic and a -
Trimethylbic (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar source of
yclohept-2- 0.41 and Rahman, 2009) contamination.(Erikss
ene on, and Wiklund,
2004).
Water distillation (1.5%), It is an irritant to skin, Shows weak dependence
steam distillation (0.3%), eyes, nose, throat and on the 15˚C to 40˚C and

Likens-Nikeerson extraction lungs; it can cause stronger temperature
(0.1%)(Md Othman, Hassan, headache, nausea and dependence in the 0˚ and
α-Pinene 0.41
Nahar, Basar, Jamil, and vomiting. It can cause 15˚C range (Pohanish,
Sarker, 2016) skin allergy and may 2017).
damage the kidneys
(Anonymous).
7- Hydrodistillation (0.41%) - -
Oxabicyclohe (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar
ptane, 1- 0.41 and Rahman, 2009)
methyl-4-(1-
methylethyl)
Hydrodistillation (0.33%) Irritant to mouth, -
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar throat and stomach
Decanal 0.33
and Rahman, 2009) (Tagiyeva, and
Sheikh, 2014)
Hydrodistillation (0.30%) - -
Carane, 4,5-
0.30 (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar
epoxy-,trans
and Rahman, 2009)
Hydrodistillation and steam Antimicrobial, Heat stable at 150˚C
distillation system (10.8%), astringent (Carbajal, Jeong, Kim, Kim, Jo,
Citronellal 0.29 water distillation (1.6%) Casaco, Arruzazabala, Nam, Ahn, and Lee,
Gonzalez, and Tolon, 2004).
1989)
Hydrodistillation (0.25%) Antifungal, -
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar Antidiarrhoeal
Nonanal 0.25 and Rahman, 2009) (Lopes-Lutz, Alviano,
Alviano, and
Kolodziejczyk, 2008)
Hydrodistillation (0.17%) Natural contraceptive -
Cyclooctyl
0.17 (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar (Van Heusden and
alcohol
and Rahman, 2009) Fauser, 2002).
Hydrodistillation (0.16%) Antispasmodic, Stable at temperature
Terpinyl (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar astringent, insecticidal between 50˚C to 100˚C
0.16
acetate and Rahman, 2009) (Liu, Liang, Shi, Liu, (Liaw, E. T., and Liu, K.
Zhou, and Liu, 2014) J. 2010).
Hydrodistillation (0.10%) Astringent, repellents -
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar of human lice
3-octyn-2-ol 0.10 and Rahman, 2009) (Pelletier, Xu, Yoon,
Clark, and Leal,
2015).
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Hydrodistillation (0.10%) Antibacterial, -

(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar Antioxidant, anti-
and Rahman, 2009) inflammatory and
antiproliferative
Undecanal 0.10 (Oliveira, Cercato, de
Santana Souza, de
Oliveira Melo, dos
Santos Lima, Duarte,
and Camargo, 2017).

Hydrodistillation (0.09%) Anti-ischemic and -
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar anti-inflammatory
cis-Verbenol 0.09 and Rahman, 2009) (Choi, Lim, Hwang,
Lee, Cho, , and Kim,
2010).
Hydrodistillation (0.08%) Antimicrobial, -
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar Antioxidant and anti-
and Rahman, 2009) inflammatory
Dodecanal 0.08 (Sharopov, Braun,
Gulmurodov,
Khalifaev, Isupov, and
Wink, 2015).
Hydrodistillation (0.08%) Neuroprotective Heat stable at 60–240° C.
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar (Viveros-Paredes, (Selestino Neta,
and Rahman, 2009) González-Castañeda, Vittorazzi, Guimarães,
α-
Gertsch, Chaparro- Martins, Fronza,
Caryophyllen 0.08
Huerta, López-Roa, Endringer and Scherer,
e
Vázquez-Valls, and 2017)
Flores-Soto, 2017)
Hydrodistillation (0.07%) Antimicrobial -

cis-α-
0.07 (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar (Alireza, 2012)
Bisabolene
and Rahman, 2009)
Hydrodistillation (0.05%) - -
2-Acetyl-5-
methylfuran
and Rahman, 2009)
Hydrodistillation (0.05%) -
(Z,E)-α-
Farnesene
and Rahman, 2009)
Hydrodistillation (0.05%) Bactericidal, -
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar virucidal,
and Rahman, 2009) fungicidal,
Germacrene
0.05 antiparasitical,
D
insecticidal, (Bakkali,
Averbeck, Averbeck,
and Idaomar, 2008).
Steam distillation (tr- trace Antihyperglycemic -
level) (Md Othman, Hassan, (Purkayastha, and
δ-Cadiene 0.05
Nahar, Basar, Jamil, and Petit, 2014).
Sarker, 2016)
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Hydrodistillation (0.04%) (Antimicrobial Guo, -

1-Heptanol, (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar Wu, Han, Cao,
0.04
3-methyl and Rahman, 2009) Rahman, and Qin
2008).
Hydrodistillation (0.04%) Antimicrobial, Stable at 54 °C (Espina,
trans-p-
(Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar (Antitumor Božović, Somolinos, Lorán,
Mentha-2,8- 0.04
and Rahman, 2009) and Ragno, 2017) Conchello, García, and
dienol
Pagán, 2011).
1,6,10- Hydrodistillation (0.04%) Antibacterial (Kurade, Heat stable at 60°C-220°C

Dodecatriene (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar Jaitak, Kaul, and (Wang, Ding, Li, Zhou,
, 7,11- and Rahman, 2009) Sharma, 2010) Wang, Zhang, H., and
0.04
dimethyl-3- Zeng, (2006)
methylene-,
(Z)
Tetrakis(trim Hydrodistillation (0.04%) - -
ethylsiloxy)si 0.04 (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar
lane and Rahman, 2009)
1,2- Hydrodistillation (0.03%) Hepatoprotective -
Cyclohexane (Bhuiyan, Begum, Sardar (Srivastava, and
diol, 1- 0.03 and Rahman, 2009) Shivanandappa, 2010).
methyl-4-1-
methylethyl
Table 3. Constituents of leaf essential oil from Citrus medica

Name of constituents Amount Process of extraction Biological activities Effect of
(%) and yield Processing
Erucylamide 28.43 Hydrodistillatin Antioxidant, Antidiabetic, -
(28.43%) (Bhuiyan, Anticancer
Begum, Sardar and (Selvamuthukumaran,
Rahman, 2009) Boobalan, and Shi, 2017).
Limonene 18.36 Water distillation Antifungal, antibacterial Heat stable at
(16.4%), steam (Uemura, Hata, Toda, and 475˚C (Mkhize,
distillation (5.9%) Weine, 1997). van der Gryp,
(Md Othman, Hassan, Danon, and
Nahar, Basar, Jamil, Görgens, 2016).
and Sarker, 2016)
Citral 12.95 Hydrodistillation Antiseptic, antimicrobial, Stable with
(12.95%) (Bhuiyan, anti-inflammatory, steam
Begum, Sardar and carminative, diuretic distillation and
Rahman, 2009) (Carbajal, Casaco, heat stable.
Arruzazabala, Gonzalez,
and Tolon, 1989)
Mehp 8.96 Hydrodistillation Antifertility in males -
(8.96%) (Bhuiyan, (Hauser, and Sokol, 2008)
Begum, Sardar and
Rahman, 2009)
Neryl acetate 5.23 Hydrodistillation Anti-inflammatory (Pereira, -
(5.23%) (Bhuiyan, Barreira, Bijttebier, Pieters,
Begum, Sardar and Neves, Rodrigues, and
Rahman, 2009) Custódio, 2017)
38
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Citronellal 4.39 Hydrodistillation Antimicrobial, Astringent Stable at 150˚C

(4.39%) (Bhuiyan, (Carbajal, Casaco,
Begum, Sardar and Arruzazabala, Gonzalez,
Rahman, 2009) and Tolon, 1989).
1,2-Cyclohexanediol,1- 3.98 Hydrodistillation Antioxidant, Antidiabetic -
methyl-4-(1methylethenyl) (3.98%) (Bhuiyan, Anticancer
Begum, Sardar and (Selvamuthukumaran,
Rahman, 2009) Boobalan, and Shi, 2017).
Methoprene 3.51 Hydrodistillation - Decompose

(3.51%) (Bhuiyan, after thermal
Begum, Sardar and treatment
Rahman, 2009)
Cyclohexanone, 2-methyl- 2.24 Hydrodistillation Antibacterial (Okmen, -
5-(1-methylethenyl) (2.24) (Bhuiyan, 2017)
Begum, Sardar and
Rahman, 2009)
Citronellol 1.72 Hydrodistillation and Anti-cancerous (Zhuang, -
steam distillation Chen, Tsai, Huang, Wu,
system (1.8%) Liu, and Yang, 2009).
Geranyl methyl ether 1.42 Hydrodistillation Estrogenic activity -
(1.42%) (Bhuiyan, (Stevens, and Page, 2004)
Begum, Sardar and
Rahman, 2009)
2,4-Dodecadienoic acid, 11- 1.22 Hydrodistillation Antioxidant (Al-Snafi, Decompose
methoxy-3,7,11-trimethyl-, (1.22%) (Bhuiyan, 2016) after thermal
methyl ester, (E,E) Begum, Sardar and treatment
Rahman, 2009)
7- 1.18 Hydrodistillation - Stable against
Oxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptane,1- (1.18%) (Bhuiyan, oxidation
methyl-4-(1-methylethenyl) Begum, Sardar and (Beristain,
Rahman, 2009) Azuara, and
Vernon‐Carter,
2002)
3,7-Nonadien-2-ol, 4,8- 1.16 Hydrodistillation - -
dimethyl (1.16%) (Bhuiyan,
Begum, Sardar and
Rahman, 2009)
2-Octen-1-ol, 3,7-dimethyl-, 1.10 Hydrodistillation - -
isobutyrate, (Z) (1.10%) (Bhuiyan,
Begum, Sardar and
Rahman, 2009)
13-Heptadecyn-1-ol 1.05 Hydrodistillation Antifungal (Bajpai, Stable at mild
(1.05%) (Bhuiyan, Rahman, and Kang, 2007) temperature
Begum, Sardar and i.e., 50˚C
Rahman, 2009) (Anonymous).
2-Oxocycloheptyl acetate 0.87 Hydrodistillation Antioxidant (Al-Snafi -
(0.87%) (Bhuiyan, 2016)
Begum, Sardar and
Rahman, 2009)
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1-Monolinoleoylglycerol 0.86 Hydrodistillation Antimicrobial (Altameme, -

trimethylsilyl ether (0.86%) (Bhuiyan, Hameed, and Kareem,
Begum, Sardar and 2015)
Rahman, 2009)
n-pentyl(1- 0.82 Hydrodistillation - -
propenyl)dimethylsilane (0.82%) (Bhuiyan,
Begum, Sardar and
Rahman, 2009)

Table 4. Phytochemicals of Citrus medica
Phytochemicals Amount Biological Effect of Reference

activities Processing
Flavonoids
Neoeriocitrin 27.6 mg/100 mL Antimicrobial Thermally Mandalari, Bennett, Bisignano,
unstable Trombetta, Saija, an Faulds, and
Narbad, (2007); Anonymous
Naringin 26.1 mg/100 mL Anti-virus Heat stable at Bae, Han, Lee, and KIM, (2000);
55˚C. Anonymous
Neohesperidin 22.1 mg/100 mL Antivirus Tolerate a Bae, Han, Lee, and KIM, (2000);
temperature Anonymous
of 90˚ C.
Apigenin di-C- 6.22 mg/100mL Antioxidant Stable at Gil-Izquierdo, Gil, and Ferreres,
glucoside 100˚C. (2002); Hostetler, Riedl, and
Schwartz, (2013)
Diosmetin di-C- 4.38 mg/100 mL Antimicrobial - Mandalari, Bennett, Bisignano,
glucoside Trombetta, Saija, Faulds, and
Narbad, (2007)
Rhoifolin 6.06 mg/100 mL Antiprolifertaive - Eldahshan, (2013)
Chrysoeriol 7-O- 4.89 mg/100 mL Hypolipidemic - Miceli, Mondello, Monforte,
neohesperidoside Sdrafkakis, Dugo, Crupi, and
Trovato, (2007)
Carotenoids
β-Cryptoxanthin Cardioprotective Degradation Voutilainen, Nurmi, Mursu, and
of pigments Rissanen, T. H. (2006);
with heat and Anonymous
light
β-carotene Cardioprotective, Degrade with
Anticancer heat and Lee, Cook, Manson, Buring, and
light. Hennekens, (1999); Dutra-de-
Oliveira, Fávaro, Junqueira-
Franco, Carvalho,
Jordão, and Vannucchi, (1998)
Cis-violaxanthin Antidiabetic Stable at Yano, Kato, Ikoma, Kawasaki,
mild Fukazawa, Sugiura, and Ogawa,
temperatures (2005); Niedz̀wiedzki, Krupa, and
i.e., 25˚C to Gruszecki, (2005)
27˚C.
40
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Lycopene Antioxidant Unstable to Lobo, Patil, Phatak, and Chandra,

heat and (2010); Shi, Dai, Kakuda, Mittal,
light. and Xue, (2008)
Lutein Eye health Isomerization
prevention occurs by Abdel-Aal, Akhtar, Zaheer, and
heat and Ali, (2013); Aman, Schieber, and
light. Carle, (2005).
Xanthin Antidepressant, Develops Herken, Gurel, Selek, Armutcu,
cardioprotective colour on Ozen, Bulut, and Akyol, (2007);

heat Strazzullo, and Puig, (2007);
treatment. Anonymous
Violaxanthin Antioxidant - Kopsell, and Kopsell, (2010)
Zeaxanthin Eye health Develops Ma, and Lin, (2010); Zhang,
protection colour on Kramer, Cruz, Struck,
treatment and Sharkey, (2011)
with light
and heat.
41
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Flevedo
Meat
Albedo

Figure1. Physical structure of Citrus medica
Figure 2. Structure of limonene and citral

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Figure 3. Technological scheme for essential oil extraction from peel and leaves
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Table of content: Health benefits and products of Citrus medica


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Citrus medica: Nutritional, phytochemical composition and health benefits-a review

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pharmacological study, for example, anti-catarrhal, capillary protector, anti–hypertensive,

diuretic, antibacterial, antifungal, anthelmintic, antimicrobial, analgesic, strong antioxidant,

anticancerous, antidiabetic, estrogenic, antiulcer, cardioprotective and antihyperglycemic.

taxonomical classification, beneficial phytochemicals, antioxidant activities and health

benefits have been discussed.

Citrus medica; nutraceutical benefits; functional food; phytochemicals; cardiovascular

diseases; cancer; diabetes

Food & Function Accepted Manuscript

hypercholesteremia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and other major chronic degenerative

g fruits in daily diet.

orange round or oblong fruit of size varying from 8 cm to 12 cm in length (Onyeyirichi,

known to contain many important nutritional components such as phenolics, flavanones,

Food & Function Accepted Manuscript

palpitation (Kirtikar and Basu, 1999; Mukherjee and Wahile, 2006).

C. medica utilization, C. medica pharmaceutics, health benefit of C. medica, C. medica

Food & Function Accepted Manuscript

subkingdom Tracheobionta, division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, subclass Rosidae,

postharvest handling, processing equipments, the designing of machines for processing,

grading, packaging and transportation.

(0.67mg/100), iron (1.73mg/100gm), thiamine (0.13 mg/100 g), riboflavin (0.067mg/100

pectin and hetropolysaccharides, also the heteropolysaccharides are composed of different

Food & Function Accepted Manuscript

flavonoids present in the fruits are hesperidin:3,5,6- trihydroxyl-4,7-dimethoxy flavone;

3,5,6-trihydroxy-3’,4’,7- trimethoxy flavones (Khare, 2007). The chemical contents in citrus

fruits is highly influenced by various factors such as genotypic differences, preharvest

anticipate or delay the collection generally results in a loss of bioactive compounds of C.

antioxidant effects as well as through inhibition of progression and deterioration of glycemia,

1996). The fruit-pulp has numerous nutraceutical importance, it is an anti-catarrhal, capillary

protector, anti–hypertensive, diuretic, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-helminthic, antimicrobial,

analgesic, strong antioxidant, anti-cancerous, anti-diabetic, estrogenic, antiulcer, cardio-

Onyeyirichi, Ogechi, Okpe, Jerry and Gero, 2014).

Food & Function Accepted Manuscript

activity (Chutia, Bhuyan, Pathak, Sarma, and Boruah, 2009).

5. Bioactive compounds in Citrus medica

flavonones, also apigenin di-C-glucoside (6.22 mg/100ml), diosmetin di-C-glucoside (4.38

dependent on degree of maturity and time of harvesting (Venturini et al 2014). Citron

Food & Function Accepted Manuscript

on survival of dopaminergic neurons and on integrity of nigrostriatal pathway of Parkinson’s

hydrocarbon mycrene. β-pinene, γ-terpinene, α-terpinolene and trans-α-bergamotene are also

(Douglas and Illman, 1985).

Limonene (4-isopropenyl-1-methylcyclohexene) having molar mass 136.23 g/mol is usually

monoterpene compound, limonene, can be extracted by distillation or pyrolytic processes and

inconsistent quality of limonene with a minute quantity of undesirable substances. Limonene

Food & Function Accepted Manuscript

temperature i.e. (75-100˚C) as limonene is easily degraded at high temperatures as compared

to classical pyrolysis. The technological scheme of the limonene production proposed by

GEA Westfalia Company (Pecoroni, 2001) is shown in Figure 3.

antifungal properties, so used as disinfectant, bioinsecticide and biopesticide for organic

farming (Ciriminna, Lomeli-Rodriguez, Carà, Lopez-Sanchez, and Pagliaro, 2014). Being

Food & Function Accepted Manuscript

under reduced pressure from citrus fruits for example C. medica.

Food & Function Accepted Manuscript