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The chemical composition of the peel oils from unripe and ripe fruits of bitter orange, Citrus aurantium L. ssp. amara engl.
Author(s) -
Boelens Mans H.,
Jimenez Rafael
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
flavour and fragrance journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.393
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1099-1026
pISSN - 0882-5734
DOI - 10.1002/ffj.2730040313
Subject(s) - chemistry , ripening , orange (colour) , limonene , linalyl acetate , chemical composition , rutaceae , botany , linalool , food science , essential oil , organic chemistry , biology
The chemical composition of bitter orange peel oils from fully developed, living, unripe and ripe fruits was studied. Fifty constituents were quantified, comprising about 99% of the oils. Lower aliphatic constituents are formed during ripening. Ripe bitter orange peels contained higher concentrations of aliphatic aldehydes and oxygen‐containing monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes than the peels of fully developed unripe fruits. Changes were found in the concentrations of linalol and linalyl acetate (together 0.3–3.2%) and in those of limonene (92–95%) in the peel oils from living bitter oranges. The sesquiterpenes nootkatone and α‐selinenone could not be detected in the peel oils from fully developed unripe bitter oranges, whereas such oils from ripe fruits contained up to 0.15% of them. Thus, some oxygen‐containing sesquiterpenes also seem to be formed during ripening.