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.
Pr
evious 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.