Variation in fruit quality traits and health promoting compounds of citrus fruits grown in semi-arid region

Abstract

The present study was conducted to assess the variation in quality characteristics of nine commonly cultivated citrus genotypes grown in semi-arid region. Fruit weight varied from 130g (‘Minneola’) to 622g (‘Pummelo Red Flesh’) within different groups of citrus fruits. Juice content ranged from 31% (‘Pummelo Red Flesh’) to 54% (‘Mosambi’). Pummelo fruits were larger in size than fruits of other citrus groups. TSS varied from 8°B (‘Dancy’) to 11°B (‘Pummelo Red Flesh’), while ascorbic acid varied from 32 to 54 mg/100g. The maximum phenolic content was recorded in ‘Pummelo White Flesh’ fruits (44.66 mg GAE/100g) and the minimum was found in ‘Minneola’ (23.33 mg GAE/100g). The fruits of ‘Pummelo Red Flesh’ and ‘Pummelo White Flesh’ had highest flavonoids of 50.85 mg QE/100g and 48.10 mg QE/100g, respectively. The antioxidant activity was also high in the fruits of pummelo and grapefruit as compared to others. Principal Component Analysis revealed that TSS and acid content were the major quality attributes governing the citrus acceptability. Total flavonoid content and the in vitro FRAP antioxidant assay were the best to determine the functional quality of the fruits. Biplot analysis grouped the genotypes into two groups and the result was further verified by Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering technique which too yielded similar results.