Evaluation of Physiological Activities of the Citron (Citrus junos Sieb. ex TANAKA) Seed Extracts

Citron seed extracts (CSEs) were made using distilled water (CSEW), ethanol (CSEE), and n-hexane (CSEH), to measure the total polyphenol contents, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities, and anti-complementary activity. The total polyphenol content was observed the highest in CSEE (188.71 μg/mL), and occurred in the following order: CSEE>CSEW (141.11 μg/mL)>CSEH (26.19 μg/mL) at 10 mg/mL. CSEE (63.56%) and CSEW (56.61%) showed significantly higher DPPH radical scavenging activities when compared with CSEH (28.57%). ABTS radical scavenging activities of CSEE (45.53%) and CSEW (40.02%) were also observed to be higher, whereas CSEH did not show ABTS radical scavenging activity. Anti-complementary activity of CSEE (26.85%) showed a greater activity than that of CSEW (7.84%) at 1,000 μg/mL. Limonin and nomilin contents had the highest values (1.882% and 2.089%) in CSEE, and with 0.327% and 0.139% in CSEW; however, CSEH showed relatively very low values at 0.061% and 0.026%, respectively. Among the CSEs tested, CSEE as a by-product from citron may provide an important source of dietary antioxidant compounds with rich polyphenol and limonoid contents, and immunopotentiating activity, including the complement activation factor.