Citrus fruits as a treasure trove of active natural metabolites that potentially provide benefits for human health

Abstract

Citrus fruits, which are cultivated worldwide, have been recognized as some of the most high-consumption fruits in terms of energy, nutrients and health supplements. What is more, a number of these fruits have been used as traditional medicinal herbs to cure diseases in several Asian countries. Numerous studies have focused on Citrus secondary metabolites as well as bioactivities and have been intended to develop new chemotherapeutic or complementary medicine in recent decades. Citrus-derived secondary metabolites, including flavonoids, alkaloids, limonoids, coumarins, carotenoids, phenolic acids and essential oils, are of vital importance to human health due to their active properties. These characteristics include anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, as well as cardiovascular protective effects, neuroprotective effects, etc. This review summarizes the global distribution and taxonomy, numerous secondary metabolites and bioactivities of Citrus fruits to provide a reference for further study. Flavonoids as characteristic bioactive metabolites in Citrus fruits are mainly introduced.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13065-015-0145-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Insights into the development of grapefruit nutraceutical powder by spray drying: physical characterization, chemical composition and 3D intestinal permeability

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Hyperin protects against cisplatin-induced liver injury in mice

“…Flavonoids are plant polyphenols found in vegetables, fruit and beverages of plant origin, and are well known for owning to their considerable health benefits 9,10 . Hyperin, a flavonoid compound occurring in natural plants, has been demonstrated to exert a variety of biological activities, including antioxidant 11,12 , anti-inflammatory 13 , anticancer 14 , and cardiovascular protective effects 15 .…”

Anticancer activity of key lime, Citrus aurantifolia

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