Bioactive compounds and antioxidant potential in fresh and dried Jaffa ® sweeties, a new kind of citrus fruit

Bioactive compounds in the edible parts of fresh and dried Jaffa ® sweeties, a new kind of citrus fruit, were analysed and their antioxidant capacities were assessed. Antioxidant‐rich fractions were extracted from fresh and dried sweeties with 1.2 M HCl in methanol/water (1:1 v/v), and the antioxidant activities of these extracts were evaluated. Using the β‐carotene/linoleate model system, the extracts from equivalent quantities of fresh and dried sweeties showed 89 and 87% antioxidant activity respectively. Similarly, using the DPPH radical‐scavenging method, the extracts showed 87 and 85% antioxidant activity respectively. The best correlations were between caffeic acid content and β‐carotene and DPPH antioxidant activity values ( r = 0.9849 and 0.9798 respectively, p = 0.005). Both fresh and dried sweeties are bioactive natural products; when fresh fruits are not available, properly dried sweeties could be used as a substitute. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry