Influence of technological processes on phenolic compounds, organic acids, furanic derivatives, and antioxidant activity of whole-lemon powder

• Characterisation of phenolic compounds in whole-lemon powder by HPLC–ESI-TOF-MS.
• Study of the stability under different drying processes and storage conditions.
• Determination of furanic compounds to evaluate heat damage.
• Low temperature drying negatively influences the phenolic composition of lemon.
• Heat damage could be controlled by phenolic profile and antioxidant activity.

The healthy properties of citrus fruits have been attributed to ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds, mainly to flavonoids. Flavonoids are important phytonutrients because they have a wide range of biological effects that provide health-related properties. In this context, this study seeks to characterise the phenolic compounds in lemon and their stability in different drying processes (freeze-drying and vacuum-drying) and storage conditions (−18 and 50 °C for 1 and 3 months). A powerful high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to DAD and electrospray-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC–ESI-TOF-MS) method has been applied for the separation, identification, and quantification of 19 phenolic compounds and 4 organic acids. To our knowledge, two hydroxycinnamic acids have been identified for the first time in lemon. Folin–Ciocalteu was applied to determine total phenolic compounds and TEAC, FRAP, and ORAC were applied to determine the antioxidant capacity of lemon. Total phenolic content significantly differed in the samples analysed, vacuum-dried lemon showing the highest phenolic content, followed by freeze-dried lemon and, finally, vacuum-dried lemon stored at 50 °C for 1 and 3 months. The content in furanic compounds was determined to evaluate the heat damage in lemon and it was showed an increase with the thermal treatment because of the triggering of Maillard reaction. As exception of ORAC, antioxidant-capacity assays were not correlated to phenolic content by HPLC due to the formation of antioxidant compounds during Maillard reaction.