Composition of Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck cv «Maltaise demi-sanguine» juice. A comparison between organic and conventional farming

Hend Letaief, Hassen Zemni, Ahmed Mliki, Samir Chebil

Ecole Supérieure des Industries Alimentaires de Tunis, ESIAT, 58 avenue Alain Savary, 1003 Tunis el khadhra, Tunisia.

Abstract

Juices from conventionally and organically grown Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck cv. Maltaise demi-sanguine blood orange were investigated for quality parameters and antioxidant capacity. This blood orange variety is particularly rich in linoleic, linolenic acids, vitamin C and phenolic compounds. The quantitative determination of these compounds in cv. Maltaise demi-sanguine juice produced under conventional and organic agricultural practices revealed significant differences. The organically grown fruits contained more hesperidin and total fatty acids amounts as well as a higher sugar content and a lower acidity. Conventionally-grown fruit was found to have an increase in antioxidant capacity. In addition to having higher antioxidant activity conventionally-grown fruit had an observed increase in the concentration of phenolic acids and most flavonoids. The results of this study indicated that organically-grown Maltaise demi-sanguine juice contained an increased concentration of hesperidin which has been observed to possess biological activities associated with a healthy life.

Keywords: Maltaise demi-sanguine; Orange juice; Organic farming; Conventional farming.