Phytoconstituent analysis, secondary metabolite profiling, and antioxidant activities of immature dropped kinnow fruits: Unveiling nature’s biochemical treasures
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https://doi.org/10.58993/ijh/2025.82.2.16Keywords:
Antioxidant, bioactive compounds, immature, metabolites, proximateIssue
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Copyright (c) 2025 Manju Bala, Mridula D., Simran Arora, Sonmati R. Kumar, Shivani, R. K. Vishwakarma

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The naturally dropped immature fruits of kinnow (mandarin) are usually considered as waste but they offer a great deal of potential for use as pharmaceuticals. The present study has been conducted to assess the status of polyphenols by LC-MS analysis of immature dropped kinnow fruits (IDKF) along with proximate composition, mineral analysis, and antioxidant capacity. The proximate analysis of IDKF revealed the presence of 10.70% protein, 7.40% sugars, 1.85% fat, 6.82% minerals, and 68.39% dietary fiber. Mineral analysis reported macronutrients namely Na, K, Ca, and Mg, and micronutrients namely Mn, Cu, Zn, and Fe. Vitamins like riboflavin and niacin were also reported in small quantities. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were reported as 5.52 g GAE/100g and 8.80 g QE/100g. DPPH and FRAP activity of 364.04 mg AAE/100g and 8.61 g TE/100g, respectively were assessed to determine antioxidant potential. Amino acid profiling revealed the presence of arginine, aspartate, glycine, and serine, and essential amino acids such as threonine, and leucine. LC-MS analysis identified 55 metabolites, rich in specific flavonoids such as kaempferol, tangeretin, and nobiletin. GC-MS analysis of the hexane extract revealed the presence of 44 volatile compounds, including cis-Vaccenic acid, D-limonene, and 5, 7-dimethoxycoumarin. The goal of this compilation is to encourage the valorization of IDKF to enhance the production of value-added products like phytochemicals with various nutraceuticals properties Abstract
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