Quality of Dry Extracts of Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck Juices

Abstract The juice of blood oranges, especially of the Citrus sinensis variety Moro, cultivated in the region of Sicily, Italy, is an increasingly popular drink due to its beneficial health properties, such as its ability to reduce abdominal fat, related to anthocyanin constituents, as demonstrated in pre-clinical and clinical studies. However, the dry extract of C. sinensis juice currently available on the compounding pharmacies in Brazil includes samples from various countries, some of which may not have adequate climatic conditions for the production of anthocyanins. In this work, we investigated three different samples (reference, A1 and A2) marketed in Brazil. We analyzed the composition of the samples by LC-UV and LC-MS, including determining the cyanidin-3-O-glycoside (C3G), total anthocyanin content (TAC), lycopene assay, antioxidant activity (DPPH assay) and in vitro anti-inflammatory effect, by NO production in macrophages. C3G was detected in the reference sample (1.6%) and absence in A1 and A2, similar to the TAC values of 1.45%, 0.1% and 0.01%, in reference, A1 and A2, respectively. The reference and A1 showed similar antioxidant activity with EC50 of 45.6 and 62.4 µg/mL, respectively, while A2 showed lower activity (EC50 315.1 µg/mL). Only the reference sample showed significant inhibition of NO release, demonstrating the necessity of quality control of these commercialized samples.