Determination of antioxidant, total phenolic, total carotenoid, lycopene, ascorbic acid, and sugar contents of Citrus species and mandarin hybrids

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the antioxidant capacity; the total phenolic, total carotenoid, sugar, and ascorbic acid contents; and some pomological characteristics of Citrus species (Citrus reticulata, Citrus sinensis, and Citrus paradisi) and mandarin (Citrus reticulata) and their new hybrids developed for yield at the Alata Horticultural Research Institute in Mersin, Turkey. With respect to antioxidant capacities, the highest value (45.28 µmol TE/100 g) was determined in Cocktail (Citrus paradisi) cultivar fruits among all examined cultivars and hybrids. We found that 7-19 (Clementine x Kara) mandarin hybrids had the highest total phenolic content (386.81 mg gallic acid equivalent/g) and the highest total carotenoid content (39.03 mg/kg). Considering the sugar contents of mandarin fruits, sucrose was identified to be the predominant sugar and the highest value (8.80 g/100 g) was identified in the Clementine cultivar. It was determined that the Citrus species and mandarin hybrids had lycopene contents ranging from 6.52 to 1.68 mg/kg. Overall, this study provides supporting evidence for the superiority of Cocktail fruit as an excellent source of antioxidant capacities.