Determination of naringin levels in local grapefruit

Grapefruit (Citrus Paradisi) is one of many citrus species that are widely cultivated in the west Mediterranean coast of Syria, the fruit is rich in flavonoid (a natural medical compounds), naringin considered the major flavonoid in Grapefruit. Previous studies have documented a wide range of biological effects and therapeutic properties that belong to naringin; therefore, it became a raw material in pharmaceutical industries. It was the aim of this study is to have naringin extracted from grapefruit by an economic method, and assign its levels, in preparation for industrial investment. Two types (red blush) and (march) where collected from three districts in Syrian coast, they were collected at the beginning of harvest season and at the end of it, fruits grown in sun light and those grown in shade were collected tow, so that healthy fruit and partly infected. A water alkaline method was applied to extract naringin, then a quantitive and qualitative determination was made to the resulting compound. Results revealed that naringin content in March grapefruit at the beginning of the harvest season was 45.53 g/kg and 44.8 g/kg in Red Blush grapefruit so on at the end of the harvest season it was 10.29 g/kg in March and 9.32 g/kg in Red Rlush. We have concluded that that Syrian Grapefruit have sufficient naringin cotent for economical investment, and that water alkaline method is a suitable economic method to extract naringin from grapefruit white peels.