Reactive Oxygen Species Scavenging Activity of Jeju Native Citrus Peel during Maturation

Faculty of Marine Biomedical Science, Jeju National University, Jeju 690-756, KoreaAbstractThis study was conducted to investigate total polyphenolic contents and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging effects of extracts from peels of ten Jeju native citrus fruits according to the harvest from August 2006 to February 2007. Total polyphenolic contents from methanol extracts of citrus peel were the highest in Jigak (Citrus aurantium) and Hongkyool (C. tachibana) by over 200 mg% in the unmatured period, from the late August to the late September, and all the citrus peels mostly decreased while ripening. Scavenging effect of superoxide anion radical showed good correlation with total polyphenolic contents. The unmatured periods of Hongkyool and Jigak were the highest with more than 60%. Hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity was the highest in Sadoogam (C. pseudogulgul) at 73.8% in late August and the second highest activity was observed in Jigak at near 70%, and all the citrus peels decreased during ripening. Hydroxy radical scavenging activity were the highest among all the ROS scavenging activities, especially in the Jigak and Dangyooja (C. grandis) at 75.1% and 74.6%, respectively, and not much affected by increased maturity of the fruits. Nitric oxide radical scavenging activity was the highest in Bungkyool (C. platymama) at 58.4% in late February, and increased with fruit ripening. In this study, Jigak was generally the highest in the polyphenolic contents and ROS scavenging activities, so the further studies are needed for industrial applications.Key words: citrus, reactive oxygen species, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, hydroxy radical scavenging