Important flavonoids and limonin in selected Thai citrus residues

• Naringin was dominant flavanone while no hesperidin was detected in polmelo peels.
• Hesperidin was a major flavanone in tangerine by-products.
• Tangerine by-products were rich sources of polymethoxy flavones.
• Low limonin contents were found in pomelo, tangerine and kaffir lime by-products.
• Selected Thai citrus by-products contained high dietary fiber content.

The distributions of important flavonoids and limonin in selected Thai citrus residues were investigated in this study. The residues of interest were peels of pomelo (Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck cv. Kao Yai and cv. Kao Nampheung), residues after juice extraction of tangerine (Citrus reticulata Blanco cv. Sainamphueng and cv. Bangmod) and peels and residues after juice extraction of kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix DC). Flavonoids were characterized and quantified in terms of flavanones, i.e., naringin and hesperidin, and polymethoxyflavones (PMFs), i.e., nobiletin, sinensetin and tangeretin. Naringin was a dominant flavanone in polmelo peels. Three PMFs were found in all samples with varying contents. Comparing the samples, residues from tangerine cv. Bangmod exhibited the highest value of each PMFs. Limonin was present in small amounts in pomelo peels and residues after juice extraction of tangerine and kaffir lime. All samples were good sources of dietary fibre, with a total dietary fibre content of more than 60 g/100 g on a dry weight basis with high proportion of soluble dietary fibre.