Bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of citrus juices produced from varieties cultivated in Calabria

Juices from 15 citrus varieties (six oranges, one lemon, two grapefruit, three bergamot, one cedar, one mandarin and one chinotto) from Calabria (Italy) were investigated mainly on quality parameters, total flavonoids, total phenolic compounds, total anthocyanin, ascorbic acid and antioxidant capacity (ABTS and DPPH assay). Total phenolic compounds had highest values, ranging from 1.54 mg/mL and 1.43 mg/mL respectively for pink grapefruit (PG) and yellow grapefruit (YG), to 0.92 and 0.96 mg/mL for cedar (C) and mandarin (Ma) respectively. Total anthocyanins ranged from 0.31 μg/mL yellow grapefruit (YG) to 3.51 μg/mL tarocco (T). Total flavonoids ranged from 0.09 mg/mL tarocco (T) to 0.24 mg/mL castagnaro (BC). In general the three cultivars of bergamot (BFe, BC and BF) have the greatest amount of flavonoids. All the analysed samples exhibit a good content of bioactive compounds.