ARTICLE IN PRESS

Original Article

Variation in the content of bioactive flavonoids in different

brands of orange and grapefruit juices
Jairam Vanamala, Lavanya Reddivari, Kil Sun Yoo, Leonard M. Pike,
Bhimanagouda S. Patil

Abstract

Citrus flavonoids have been shown to possess biological activities such as anti-inflammatory properties, cholesterol lowering and
immune system modulation. In this study, 12 made-from-concentrate (MFC) and 14 not-from-concentrate (NFC) orange juices, and five
NFC grapefruit juices available in the US market were analyzed for their flavonoid content by reverse phase HPLC. Individual and total
flavonoid content was determined for all of the brands. The correlation between flavonoid content (mg) and price (US dollar) per unit
volume of orange and grapefruit juices were also evaluated. Significant differences (Pp0:05) among the brands and within the brand
were observed for all of the prominent flavanone glucosides. Within the brand, juice types containing added antioxidant vitamins C and
E were not superior in flavonoid content compared to orange juice types devoid of added antioxidant vitamins. Total flavonoid content
of MFC orange juices (53 mg/100 mL; n ¼ 12) was significantly (Pp0:05) higher than NFC orange juices (36.5 mg/100 mL; n ¼ 14).
Hesperidin was found to be the major flavonoid followed by narirutin and didymin in orange juice. Naringin, narirutin, and poncirin
were the major flavonoids in all brands of grapefruit juices. The concentration of didymin was considerably higher in NFC orange juices
compared to MFC orange juices. Interestingly, no correlation was observed between price and the total flavonoid content of MFC
orange juices and NFC grapefruit juices. However, a significant negative correlation (r ¼
0:49; P ¼ 0:001) was observed for NFC
orange juices. This study provides valuable information on flavonoid composition of orange and grapefruit juices commonly available in
the US market.

Keywords: Orange juice; Grapefruit juice; Flavanones; Flavonoids

1. Introduction agents such as flavonoids and limonoids (Tanaka et al.,

Evidence from a large number of epidemiological, in
vitro and in vivo studies has shown that consumption of
citrus is protective against cancer and cardiovascular
(Borradaile et al., 1999, 2002; Miyagi et al., 2000; Tian et
al., 2001; Liu et al., 2001; Poulose et al., 2005) diseases.
Until the last 2 decades, it was assumed that vitamin C was
the only chemopreventive agent in citrus because of its free
radical scavenger ability. Recent accumulative evidences
suggest that citrus contains several possible anti-cancer
2000, 2001; Tian et al., 2001; Poulose et al., 2005).
Orange and grapefruit are a rich source of health
promoting flavonoids, especially flavanones, which are
shown to posses several physiological properties. Flavo-
noids contain various glycosides of three main aglycones:
hesperetin (40 -methoxy-30 ,5,7-trihydroxyflavanone), narin-
genin (5,7,40 -trihydroxyflavanone) and eriodictyol
0 0
(5,7,3 ,4 - tetrahydroxy flavanone). Prominent glucosides
in citrus are hesperidin, naringin, narirutin, and poncirin
(Mouly et al., 1998). Physiological properties of these
flavonoids are attributed to their ability to inhibit cell
proliferation, promote differentiation (Kuo, 1996), func-
tion as antioxidants (Yu et al., 2005; Robak and
Gryglewski, 1988) and are modulators of tyrosine kinases
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

(Hagiwara et al., 1998). Flavonoids are structurally similar hesperidoside, PON), kaempferol (3,5,7,40 -tetrahydroxy-
to ATP and it is proposed that their ability to compete with flavone, KAP), rutin trihydrate (RUT), apigenin (5,7,40 -
ATP for binding at various enzymatic sites may be trihydroxyflavone, APG), and quercetin dihydrate
responsible for their varied biological effects (Graziani et (3,5,7,30 ,40 -pentahydroxyflavone dehydrate, QUE) were
al., 1983). obtained from Indofine Chemical Company, Inc. (Hills-
For a long time, absorption of flavonoids from dietary borough, NJ).
sources was considered to be negligible. However, citrus
flavonoids have been reported in plasma and urine of
2.3. Flavonoid analysis
humans (Erlund et al., 2001, 2002). Furthermore, recent
reports suggest that humans absorb appreciable amounts
Commercial citrus juice samples were analyzed for
of flavonoids in the small intestine (Hollman et al., 1999)
flavonoid content by reverse phase liquid chromatography
and citrus flavonoids could reach relatively high concen-
with modifications of the methods of Mouly et al. (1998).
trations in human plasma after ingestion of orange or
Juice (20 mL) was homogenized with 20 mL of dimethyl-
grapefruit juice (Erlund et al., 2001).
formamide and subsequently a 1.5 mL aliquot was
Citrus juice consistently ranks first among the most
centrifuged at 4000g for 20 min. A 20 mL sample was
consumed fruit juices in the US. On an average, citrus juice
injected into the HPLC system (PE LC-250B and Model
consumption is 212 times greater than the second most
200 Autosampler). Separation of flavonoid compounds
preferred apple juice. Citrus juice consumption
was performed using a stainless-steel column
(33.6 kg person
1 yr
1) was much higher than the fresh
(250  4.6 mm I.D.) packed with C18 Altima, 5 mm
citrus fruit consumption (5.6 kg person
1 yr
1) in the year
(Alltech, USA), equipped with a pre-column
2000–2001 (Pollack et al., 2003). Orange juice producers
(7.5  4.6 mm I.D.) and a solvent system of acetonitrile
utilize citrus juice concentrate or fruits from US, Mexico
(ACN)/water plus 4% acetic acid gradient starting at 0%
and Brazil. Citrus flavonoid content is influenced by the
and ending at 70% ACN concentration. Flavanone peaks
growing season and location (Albach et al., 1981). We
were detected at 280 Zm (PE-200 UV/VIS detector).
recently reported that bioactive compounds in grapefruit
Flavanones were identified by comparing their UV spectra
respond differently to post-harvest treatments and proces-
and retention times with those of standards (Table 1).
sing (Vanamala et al., 2005). However, very little informa-
Quantification of the flavanones was done by using known
tion is available on the variation in the flavonoid content in
concentrations of external standards from the commercial
different brands of commercial orange and grapefruit juices
source. All samples were run in triplicate with the
available in the US market. This study investigated the
mean7S.D. reported. For recovery studies commercial
variation in the major flavonoid content in different brands
standards were incorporated in to both grapefruit and
of orange and grapefruit juices and the correlation between
orange juices before the addition of DMF. The amounts of
the flavonoid content (mg), and unit price (US dollar).
flavonoid standards added represented approximately
equal to the content of each flavonoid in the citrus juices.
2. Materials and methods
A set of analyses was accepted whenever the recovery
percent was in between 80–120. However, data were not
2.1. Samples
corrected based on recovery percentage. Coefficient of
variation (CV) for the flavonoids in this study ranged from
Twelve made-from-concentrate (MFC) orange juices, 14
2.96 to 4.99 (n ¼ 6214).
pasteurized not-from-concentrate (NFC) orange juices,
and five NFC grapefruit juices were analyzed. A total of
three representative samples (n ¼ 3; 20 mL) were collected
Table 1
by thoroughly mixing the orange juices for each brand at Reference flavonoid standard’s retention time (Rt)
monthly intervals for 3 months from different grocery
stores and analyzed individually. In most cases, citrus juice Flavonoid Rt (min)
container size was 1.89 L. Samples were frozen at
80 1C Rutin 28.58
until analysis. Neoeriocitrin 28.65
Eriocitrin 29.99
2.2. Reagents and flavonoid standards Narirutin 31.58
Naringin 33.35
Hesperidin 34.20
Dimethyl formamide (DMF) and acetonitrile (ACN) Neohesperidin 35.17
were obtained from VWR scientific products (Houston, Quercetin 37.68
TX). Naringin (naringenine-7-rhamnosidoglucoside, Didymin 41.97
NAR), narirutin (naringenin-7-rutinoside, NAT), hesper- Poncerin 42.31
idin (hesperetin-7-rutinoside, HES), didymin (isosakurane- Apigenin 47.30
Naringenin 47.63
tin-7-rutinoside, DID), neohesperidin (hesperitin 7- Kaempferol 47.87
neohesperidoside, NEH), poncirin (isosakuranetin-7-neo-
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
It is interesting that the retention times for narirutin, and
naringin were not the same for both orange and grapefruit
juices. This may be due to differential interaction of
narirutin and naringin with other compounds in orange
and grapefruit juices. Total flavonoid content was calcu-
lated by combining narirutin, hesperidin, didymin content
and naringin, narirutin, poncirin, neohesperidin, quercetin
content in orange and grapefruit juices, respectively.
2.4. Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis was performed using SAS (SAS,
2002). Significant differences between different brands of
orange and grapefruit juices were tested by the general
linear model (GLM). Orange and grapefruit juice sample
means were compared by the Tukey test at the 5%
probability level. Pearson correlation was also calculated
for total flavonoid content (mg) and unit price (US dollar).
3. Results and discussion
The specific flavonoid groups analyzed were flavanones
(naringin, narirutin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, didymin
and poncirin) and flavonols (quercetin and rutin). Typical
chromatograms obtained from orange juice and grapefruit
juice are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is clear from the
chromatograms that hesperidin was the major flavonoid in
orange juice. However, naringin was the most predominant
flavonoid in grapefruit juice.
3.1. MFC orange juices
All individual flavonoids and the total flavonoid content
were significantly different (Pp0:05) among some of the
brands of MFC orange juices tested (Table 2). Hesperidin
was the major flavonoid followed by narirutin and didymin
and their concentrations ranged from 32.9 to 54.8, 4.4 to
8.0, and 1.17 to 2.57 mg/100 mL, respectively. The hesper-
idin levels reported are in agreement with previously
reported values (Mouly et al., 1998). Interestingly, varia-
tion in hesperidin content was greater compared to
narirutin and didymin among the brands. Total flavonoid
content ranged from 39.5 to 64.3 mg/100 mL, and was
mainly influenced by the hesperidin content.
Orange juices having added antioxidant vitamins such as
vitamins C and E were compared to the juice types devoid
of added antioxidant vitamins for the flavonoid content.
Minute Maid Premium Extra containing vitamin C and E
had significantly (Pp0:05) lower total flavonoid content
compared to Minute Maid Premium Home Squeezed plus
Calcium. This may be due to the higher pulp content in the
Home Squeezed plus Calcium brand compared to Minute
Maid Premium Extra containing vitamins C and E.
Overall, Schepps had a higher content of didymin
(2.57 mg/100 mL). Brands with lower hesperidin content
did not necessarily have lower concentrations of narirutin
and didymin.
3.2. NFC orange juice
Pasteurized NFC orange juices also showed signi-
ficant differences (Pp0:05) among individual flavonoid
content and the total flavonoid content (Table 3).
Hesperidin, narirutin, didymin and total flavonoid
concentrations ranged from 18.0 to 42.8, 2.95 to 5.41,
1.16 to 3.14 and 23.5 to 50.4 mg/100 mL, respectively.
These values are in agreement with another report (Kanaze
et al., 2003).
Significant differences in flavonoid content of both MFC
and pasteurized NFC orange juices suggest that factors
contributing to the variation need to be identified. These
factors may be the growing conditions, storage, processing
methods, and the differences in amount of water used
during reconstitution of the orange concentrate to ‘‘orange
juice made from concentrate’’.
3.3. Difference between MFC and NFC orange juices
Total flavonoid content was significantly (Pp0:05)
higher in MFC orange juices (n ¼ 12; 53.2 mg/100 mL)
compared to the NFC (n ¼ 14; 36.49 mg/100 mL) orange
juices (Fig. 3). Gil-Izquierdo et al. (2002) reported that
concentration technique doubled the total flavanone
content in the cloud portion (pulp) due to the precipitation
from the soluble fraction. Overall, it seems that concentra-
tion technique is not deleterious for the major bioactive
flavonoids in the citrus fruit even though greater losses
were observed in the didymin concentration. Hesperidin
content variation appears to be greater in NFC orange
juices than that of MFC orange juices. In general,
hesperidin, narirutin, and total flavonoid content of
NFC juices were lower compared to MFC orange juices.
Mouly et al. (1998) also reported numerically higher
concentrations of didymin in NFC citrus juices than
MFC orange juices. Gil-Izquierdo et al. (2002) divided
orange juice into a soluble fraction and cloud fraction
(pulp), and observed that didymin was the most labile
flavanone with a 52% loss in the soluble fraction of orange
juice compared to the levels before concentration. How-
ever, other flavanones, such as hesperidin and naringenin
showed only a slight decrease. Didymin was the most stable
compound in the pasteurized orange pulp with a loss of
only 1%. This may explain greater reduction of didymin
content in the MFC orange juices compared to the
pasteurized juices.
3.4. NFC grapefruit juices
Naringin and narirutin content were significantly differ-
ent (P p 0.05) among the brands tested (Table 4).
However, no significant differences were found in the
content of poncirin, neohesperidin and quercetin among
the brands. Naringin and narirutin content in grapefruit
juices ranged from 23.5 to 37.2 and 9.1 to 11.7 mg/100 mL,
respectively. These results are in agreement with previous
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
Fig. 1. Chromatogram of orange juice sample. The following flavonoids were identified; narirutin (RT:32); hesperidin (RT:34) and didymin (RT:40).
reports (Patil, 2004). However, Ross et al. (2000) reported
greater variation in naringin (14.6–51 mg/100 mL) and
narirutin (2.25–11.40 mg/100 mL) contents compared to
the values obtained in this study. The previous studies
included juice types such as cocktails with only 35% fruit
juice and also juices from concentrate. In contrast to
previous work, the current study focused on 100% pure
grapefruit juice. The low variation of flavanone content in
our study may be due to use of only NFC grapefruit juice
types.
3.5. Variation in total flavonoid content (mg) per US dollar
among different brands of orange and grapefruit juices
Price did not correlate with the total flavonoid content
(r ¼ 0:06; P ¼ 0:759) in MFC orange juice (Table 5). For
example, Albertson’s (55.074.6 mg/100 mL) and Donald
Duck (57.274.6 mg/100 mL) had similar mean flavonoid
content; however, Donald Duck had higher flavonoid
content per unit price (794.8 mg/US dollar; Fig. 4)
compared to Albertson’s (614.7 mg/US dollar). NFC
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
Fig. 2. Chromatogram of grapefruit juice sample. The following flavonoids were identified : narirutin (RT:33); naringin (RT:34); neohesperidin (RT:36);
quercetin (RT:39) and poncerin (RT:43).
orange juices showed a negative correlation (r ¼
0:49;
P ¼ 0:001) between price and the total flavonoid content
(Table 5; Fig. 5). Grapefruit juices (r ¼
0:22; P ¼ 0:426)
also showed similar trend as that of NFC orange juices,
however, the correlation was not significant (Table 5;
Fig. 6). Negative correlation observed between price and
total flavonoid content was may be due to some of the
expensive branded and/or organic citrus juices in the study
which were not different from generic orange juices in their
flavonoid content.
A study from England compared the costs and nutrient
contents of five ‘‘economy’’ line products of four major
English supermarkets—Asda, KwikSave, Sainsbury, and
Tesco—with branded (but not ‘‘own label’’) equivalents
(Cooper and Nelson, 2003). This study also reported that
the lower cost orange juices were nutritionally similar to
and often better than the more expensive, branded citrus
juices. People in the low-income group have the highest per
capita consumption of orange drink (Pollack et al., 2003).
Consequently, information on the price and the levels of
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

Table 2
Major flavonoid content of made-from-concentrate (MFC) orange juices

Brand Product name Hesperidin Narirutin Didymin Total Source Price

no. (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (US dollar)a

1 Albertson’s 46.373.9abc1 6.870.57a 1.7970.10b 55.074.6abcd USA and Mexico 1.99

2 Dole 32.971.6e 4.471.20b 1.5070.15bc 39.573.3e Brazil and USA 1.52
3 Donald Duck 48.373.5abc 7.170.54a 1.8070.13b 57.274.1abc USA, Brazil and 1.36
Mexico
4 Good Day 34.071.7de 8.070.66a 1.7470.11b 44.372.2de USA 1.89
5 Greater Value 44.373.3bcd 6.670.48a 1.8370.14b 52.874.0abcd USA and Brazil 1.50
6 Greater Value with Calcium 47.370.7abc 6.870.18a 1.1770.06c 55.370.8abcd USA and Brazil 1.50
7 Minute Maid Country Style 43.572.1bcd 6.171.08ab 1.5070.12bc 51.173.6bcde USA and Brazil 1.98
8 Minute Maid Home Squeezed 52.177.7ab 7.87.10a 1.9170.15b 61.778.0ab USA and Brazil 1.98
plus Calcium
9 Minute Maid Premium 41.772.7bcde 6.670.46a 1.4470.12bc 49.773.1bcde USA and Brazil 1.98
Original
10 Minute Maid Premium 43.273.7bcde 7.070.41a 1.6370.26bc 51.873.6bcde USA and Brazil 1.98
Original plus Calcium
11 Minute Maid Premium Extra 40.773.8edc 6.4709.30ab 1.6870.17b 48.874.5cde USA and Brazil 1.98
Vitamins Vit. C and E plus Zn
12 Schepps 54.873.4a 6.870.57a 2.5770.27a 64.373.9a USA 1.89
Mean7SEM 44.170.98 6.770.19 1.7170.045 52.671.12 — —

Data are means7S.D., n ¼ 3.

1
Means within the column without the same letter are significantly different (Pp0:05; Tukey test).
a
Price for 1.89 L of MFC orange juice in US dollars.

Table 3
Major flavonoid content of not-from-concentrate (NFC) orange juices

Brand Brand name Hesperidin Narirutin Didymin Total Source Price

no. (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (US dollar)a

1 Albertson’s Country Style 24.670.76fgh1 3.6470.47cde 1.147.0.06b 29.4371.03ef — 1.99

2 Albertson’s Orange Juice plus 39.170.79abc 4.2870.28bcd 3.1471.25a 46.5572.31abc Mexico 1.99
Calcium
3 AvoClassic 33.772.99dc 3.5770.36de 1.5870.27ab 38.8173.3cd U.S.A 1.89
4 Florida Natural 32.870.39cde 4.5870.29abc 1.8570.01ab 39.2170.31cd U.S.A 2.00
5 H.E.B Calcium 29.671.87defg 4.3370.32bcd 1.7670.08ab 35.6972.16de U.S.A 1.96
6 H.E.B Groves Choice 40.871.60ab 4.6870.4b 2.3671.0ab 47.8172.79ab U.S.A 1.96
7 H.E.B Home Squeezed Style 42.873.60a 5.4170.35a 2.1470.09ab 50.3673.84a U.S.A and Mexico 1.96
8 H.E.B Original 30.774.00def 4.0870.38bcd 2.1270.6ab 36.9470.43de U.S.A 1.96
9 Horizonb 18.071.54h 4.3470.29bcd 1.2470.27b 23.5371.88f Florida 4.00
10 Kroger Homestyle 23.871.7gh 4.2570.08bcd 1.4170.30ab 29.4171.95ef U.S.A 1.99
11 Sam’s Choice 23.971.00fgh 2.9570.30e 2.3171.00ab 29.1271.31ef U.S.A 1.86
12 Sam’s Choice with Calcium 34.872.78bcd 3.7870.31bcde 1.1670.04b 39.7873.14bcd — 1.86
13 Tropicana Pure Premium 26.272.40efg 3.7770.80bcde 1.8870.5ab 31.8672.84de — 2.27
Calcium
14 Tropicana Pure Premium Low 26.772.40efg 3.9770.16bcd 1.7070.4ab 32.3572.86de — 2.27
Acid
Mean7SEM 30.570.61 4.170.084 1.870.158 36.570.73 — —

Data are means7S.D., n ¼ 3.

1
Means within the column without the same letter are significantly different (Pp0:05; Tukey test).
a
Price for 1.89 L of NFC orange juice in US dollars.
b
Certified organic.

bioactive compounds would be beneficial for the consumer
in choosing the best quality product for a given price,
taking taste preferences into consideration. However, it is
important to note that brand to brand differences identified
in the flavonoid content in one season may not be
applicable to every season. Place of procurement or season
may also influence the flavonoid content. For example,
naringin content of grapefruit juice from the same grove
and trees fluctuated during a season and varied consider-
ably between crop years (Albach et al., 1981). Moreover,
citrus juices found to have lower flavonoid content in
this study may have greater levels of other bioactive
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

60
a

50

Flavonoid content (mg/100 mL)

40 b

30

20

10

0
MFC NFC
Orange Juice Type

Fig. 3. Total flavonoid content was significantly (Pp0:05) higher in made from ‘‘concentrate’’ (MFC) orange juices (n ¼ 12) compared to the
‘‘pasteurized’’ not from concentrate (NFC) orange juices (n ¼ 14).

Table 4
Major flavonoid content of not-from-concentrate (NFC) commercial grapefruit juices brand

Brand Brand namea Naringin Narirutin Poncerin Neohesperidin Quercetin Total Price
no. (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (mg/100 mL) (US dollar)b

1 Albertson’s Grapefruit 30.670.28b1 10.470.28ab 1.3070.10a 0.46570.14a 0.78770.05a 43.671.1b 1.99

Juice
2 Florida Natural Original 31.572.2b 10.270.71ab 1.3070.03a 0.66070.05a 0.68070.08a 44.772.8ab 2.00
3 Horizonc 23.571.25c 9.270.37b 1.1170.19a 0.51570.02a 0.64370.12a 40.873.2b 4.00
4 Kroger Grapefruit Juice 29.270.42b 9.170.10b 1.1170.24a 0.68070.09a 0.56770.13a 40.770.49b 1.99
5 Tropicana Grapefruit 37.272.84a 11.770.96a 1.3770.30a 0.62070.19a 0.50570.24a 52.274.4a 2.38
Juice plus Calcium
Mean7SEM 30.470.77 10.170.26 1.2470.088 0.5970.054 0.6470.070 44.471.239 —

Data are means7S.D., n ¼ 3.

1
Means with in the column without the same letter (a, b and c) are significantly different (Pp0:05; Tukey test).
a
Grapefruit source is USA or not mentioned.
b
Price for 1.89 L of MFC grapefruit juice in US dollars.
c
Certified organic.

Table 5 compounds. The flavanone levels reported for juice brands

Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) between price and total flavanone tested in this study are applicable only to the time period
content for commercial orange and grapefruit juices the juices were tested.
Juice type r-value P-value
3.6. Dietary intake of flavonoids
a
MFC orange juice 0.06 0.759
NFC orange juiceb
0.49 0.001 Dietary intake of flavonoid glucosides are reported to be
NFC grapefruit juice
0.22 0.426
1000 mg/d when five classes of flavonoids were taken into
a
MFC: made-from-concentrate. consideration (Kuhnau, 1976). According to the levels of
b
NFC: not-from-concentrate. hesperidin and narirutin obtained from MFC orange juices
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

1000

Total flavonoid content (mg/US dollar)

a
800
ab ab ab
bc bcd
600
cde cde de cde de
e
400

200

0
1

10

11

12
Brand number

Fig. 4. Variation in total flavonoid content (mg/US dollar) among different brands of MFC orange juice. Refer to Table 2 for a description of the orange
juice brands.

600
Total flavonoid content (mg/US dollar)

a
500 ab
abc bcd
400 cde cde de
def
efg
300 gf fg g fg

200

h
100

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Brand number

Fig. 5. Variation in total flavonoid content (mg/US dollar) among different brands of NFC orange juice. Refer to Table 3 for a description of the orange
juice brands.

and pasteurized NFC orange juices, a 240 mL serving significant part of the total polyphenolic pool in plasma
(Food and Drug Administration’s standard serving size for (Manach et al., 2003).
fruit juices) would contain 43–132 mg of hesperidin and It is evident from this study that commercially available
7–19 mg of narirutin. A standard serving (240 mL) of orange and grapefruit juices differ in their bioactive
orange juice provides approximately 98 mg of flavanones flavonoids content. It would be interesting to evaluate the
(Bronner and Beecher, 1995). A similar volume of grape- differences in other bioactive compounds in citrus fruits
fruit juice could provide 58–89 mg of naringin and such as limonoids, carotenoids, ascorbic acid and potas-
22–29 mg of narirutin. It is evident that approximately sium. Studies aimed to identify the factors contributing to
10–15% of Kuhnau’s estimate of 1 g of daily intake of the changes in the bioactive compounds in citrus juices
flavonoid glucosides could be obtained from one standard such as growing area; soil conditions, etc., are valuable in
serving size of orange or grapefruit juice. obtaining information which will help minimize the
As humans are capable of rapidly absorbing flavonoid differences in bioactive compounds. It is possible that even
glucosides through the small intestine (Hollman, 1997), a though one bioactive compound is low in orange juice
moderate or high consumption of orange juice or grape- obtained from one type of growing conditions, other
fruit juice, may result in citrus flavonoids being a bioactive compounds may be higher. Thus, it is necessary
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
500
a a
Total flavonoid content (mg/US dollar)
a
400
300
200
100
0
1 2
Brand number
Fig. 6. Variation in total flavonoid content (mg/US dollar) of different brands of grapefruit juice. Refer to Table 4 for a description of the grapefruit juice
brands.
to test different orange juices using experimental in vivo
conditions to evaluate if the differences in bioactive
compounds due to growing location and processing
methods have a direct effect on their physiological
properties.
Acknowledgements
Funding for this research was provided through a grant
from USDA-IFAFS-2001-52102-11257, USDA-2001-
34402-10543, and ATP-003658-0359-2001. The authors
would like to thank Drs. Greg Cobb, Nancy D. Turner
and Lisa Sanders for their critical comments during the
manuscript preparation.
Disclaimer
Mention of names of commercial products or companies is
solely for the purpose of providing specific information and
does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the
authors or the TAMU system.
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