Development and characterization of liquors prepared with an underutilized citrus by-product, the peel

Abstract

Three orange liquors were prepared by macerating of the peel of three orange cultivars (“Clemenules”, “Valencia Late”, and “Sanguinely”). The following parameters were analyzed in these spirits: the volatile composition by gas chromatography, total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity (ABTS⁺, FRAP and DPPH· methods), sensory profile (trained panel) and affective test (consumers’ panel). These products had a great aromatic potential, characterized by proper volatile profiles, mainly monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, being that the “Clemenules” and “Valencia Late” liquors were those with the most complex aroma. On the other hand, the “Sanguinely” liquor had the highest polyphenol content (557 mg GAE/mL) and the highest antioxidant activity by ABTS⁺ and FRAP (4.77 and 4.90 mmol Trolox/mL, respectively). The “Clemenules” and “Valencia Late” spirits were those preferred by the consumers, with the intensities of the most relevant attributes being close to the optimal values according to the consumers’ opinion, and were the closest ones to the consumers’ “ideal liquor”. The use of the by-products of the food industries is one of the most important challenges to be faced to minimize pollution and climate change. In this paper, it has been proven that good liquors can be prepared using citrus peels, which are discarded after manufacturing citrus juices, increasing the options of the juice companies and the potential prices of these fruits and the farmers’ revenues.

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European Food Research and Technology (2019) 245:41–50
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-018-3138-9
ORIGINAL PAPER
Development andcharacterization ofliquors prepared
withanunderutilized citrus by-product, thepeel
PatriciaNavarro‑Martínez1· LuisNoguera‑Artiaga2· PaolaSánchez‑Bravo2· EmaC.Rosas‑Burgos3·
AntonioJ.Pérez‑López1· ÁngelA.Carbonell‑Barrachina2
Received: 3 June 2018 / Revised: 22 July 2018 / Accepted: 28 July 2018 / Published online: 13 August 2018
© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
Three orange liquors were prepared by macerating of the peel of three orange cultivars (“Clemenules”, “Valencia Late”, and
“Sanguinely”). The following parameters were analyzed in these spirits: the volatile composition by gas chromatography,
total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity (ABTS+, FRAP and DPPH· methods), sensory profile (trained panel) and
affective test (consumers’ panel). These products had a great aromatic potential, characterized by proper volatile profiles,
mainly monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, being that the “Clemenules” and “Valencia Late” liquors were those with the most
complex aroma. On the other hand, the “Sanguinely” liquor had the highest polyphenol content (557mg GAE/mL) and the
highest antioxidant activity by ABTS+ and FRAP (4.77 and 4.90mmol Trolox/mL, respectively). The “Clemenules” and
“Valencia Late” spirits were those preferred by the consumers, with the intensities of the most relevant attributes being close
to the optimal values according to the consumers’ opinion, and were the closest ones to the consumers’ “ideal liquor”. The
use of the by-products of the food industries is one of the most important challenges to be faced to minimize pollution and
climate change. In this paper, it has been proven that good liquors can be prepared using citrus peels, which are discarded
after manufacturing citrus juices, increasing the options of the juice companies and the potential prices of these fruits and
the farmers’ revenues.
Keywords Alcoholic beverages· Antioxidant activity· Sensory analysis· Citrus sinensis· Citrus reticulata· Volatile
compounds
Introduction
Citrus is one of the world major fruit crops, has global avail-
ability and popularity, and its annual worldwide production
has witnessed strong and rapid growth in the last decades
[1]. Citrus are the top fruit crops in terms of world trade. For
example, in Spain, 26% of the total volume of juices sold is
orange juice, and another 5% comes from mandarin orange
juice and is progressively expanding [2]. This enthusiasm
for citrus products, in general, is mainly due to their high
organoleptic quality and high content in nutritional com-
pounds of interest, especially vitamin C and polyphenols.
About 80% of the citrus production is processed into
juice; citrus by-products are the processing wastes generated
after citrus juice extraction and constitute about 50% of fresh
fruit weight [3]. This solid residue is basically comprised
of peel (flavedo and albedo), pulp (juice sac residue), rag
(membranes and cores), and seeds. In this way, the disposal
of the fresh peels is becoming a major problem for many fac-
tories [4]. Usually, citrus juice industries dry the residue and
either it is sold as raw material for pectin extraction or pel-
letized for animal feeding, although none of these processes
is very profitable. This residual material is a poor animal
feed supplement because of its extremely low protein content
and high amount of sugar. The application of agroindustrial
* Ángel A. Carbonell-Barrachina
angel.carbonell@umh.es
1 Detection andMolecular Encapsulation, Food Technologies
andNutrition Department, Universidad Católica San
Antonio de Murcia, 30107Guadalupe, Murcia, Spain
2 Grupo Calidad y Seguridad Alimentaria (CSA),
Departamento de Tecnología Agroalimentaria, Escuela
Politécnica Superior de Orihuela (EPSO), Universidad
Miguel Hernández de Elche (UMH), Carretera de Beniel, km
3,2, 03312Orihuela, Alicante, Spain
3 Departamento de Investigación y Posgrado en Alimentos,
Universidad de Sonora, Blvd. Luis Encinas y Rosales
s/n. Col. Centro. C.P., 83000Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
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