Naringin in fruit

Flavonoids are naturally occurring phenolic compounds with a diverse range of bioactivities. Approximately 4000 flavonoids have so far been discovered, mainly from fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Flavonoids in citrus fruit include flavanones (naringin), flavones (nobiletin), and flavonols (quercetin). Naringin, a flavanone neohesperidoside, and neohesperidin are very bitter, whereas hesperidin is tasteless.

Naringin (with the molecular formula C27H32O14 and a molecular weight of 580.4 g/mol) is responsible for the fruit's bitter taste in citrus fruit especially in grapefruit. It possesses the distinct bitter taste of grapefruit juice. Two rhamnose units are attached to its aglycon portion, naringenin, at the 7-carbon position.

Naringin concentrations are highest in young leaves and in the pulp of immature fruit. Naringin was found to possess strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities both in vitro and in vivo.
Naringin in fruit