CHARACTERIZATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF BIOFLAVONOIDS FROM RESIDUES OF THE PECTIN AND ORANGE JUICE INDUSTRY

Abstract

Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck, one of the most important fruits in the world, presents itself as an important species used for processing and production of orange juice, a procedure that generates a significant amount of citrus peel waste. This biomass is an enriched source of a wide variety of compounds, such as flavonoids, essential oils, vitamins, organic acids, fibers, pectin, proteins and pigments, which holds a high biological value. Currently, citrus residues are mainly used for fiber and pectin extraction, which generates other residues that may contain minor compounds. Among these compounds, great attention has been attributed to polyphenols, mainly flavonoids, by their therapeutic attributes and pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic actions. Therefore, bioflavonoids from three types of residues from: (i) the orange processing for juice production industry (from the species Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck), (ii) from the pectin and fiber extraction industry, and (iii) orange peels in natura - for comparison analyses - will be the focus of this project's study. The work has as an objective the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of flavonoids in three types of citrus biomass. Two extraction methods of the flavonoids will be evaluated. The identification and quantification of these compounds will be carried out using an high resolution mass spectrometry technique, by applying the ultra performance liquid chromatography - electrospray - tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS), with rating the best optimization of the working conditions. Finally, data processing and multivariate analysis of the chromatographic profiles of the different residues and concentrations in the different samples will be carried out by certain softwares, and the annotation of the metabolites present in these analyzed groups.