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Claudie Dhuique-Mayer
Montpellier, France
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Florence Vigier
Montpellier, France
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Citrus fruits have their climatic preferences!

25/02/2010 - Press release

CIRAD and Agro’Novae, an agrifood firm in the Alps of Haute Provence, have just launched a two-year research programme on Mediterranean citrus fruits. It is subsidized by OSEO and entitled CARHES (CARotenoids-HESperidin) "Effect of geographical origin on the nutritional microconstituents of citrus fruits and production of citrus extracts enriched with these compounds ".

As Claudie Dhuique-Mayer, a researcher at CIRAD, explains: "the project was prompted by a thesis on citrus fruits and the effect of their geographical origin on carotenoid contents ".
While climate (large fluctuations in day and night temperatures, such as in Corsica) has a real impact on citrus skin colour (better carotenoid pigment synthesis and more brightly coloured fruits), might these factors also affect the flesh of the fruit?

This is the question that prompted the scientists working on the CARHES project to compare the carotenoid contents of genetically identical citrus fruits grown in tropical and then Mediterranean climates. Once the effect of geographical origin on fruit composition is established, the second phase of the project will involve producing extracts and products with added nutritional value.

The health effect

Oranges, clementines and grapefruit contain microconstituents such as carotenoids, but also polyphenols (particularly hesperidin) that have many health effects. Carotenoids are precursors of vitamin A, which plays an essential role in human health (sight, bone growth, reproduction). Their biological properties are also assumed to help prevent some cancers and heart disease.

This nutritional potential is of great interest for the production of natural citrus extracts enriched with such microconstituents. Physical separation methods by filtration without any chemical additives, which respect the nutritional value of the fruit, are under study. This is a major challenge for the industrial production of health foods.