Bioactive and nutritional profiling of underutilized pomelo (Citrus maxima) and optimization of functional pomelo marmalade using response surface methodology

Pomelo (Citrus maxima) fruit is underutilized and has few commercially viable products, despite being a good source of bioactive and distinctive flavor chemicals with potential therapeutic benefits. Therefore, this study is carried out to investigate the physicochemical, phytochemical, antioxidant, functional properties and flavour profiling of pomelo fruit, juice and it’s by products such as pomelo peel and its essential oil. Optimization of formulations for development of pomelo marmalade was done using response surface methodology. Results indicated good amount of total phenolic content and high DPPH free radical scavenging activity (%) for all the components of pomelo fruit. D-limonene was the dominating flavouring component present in pomelo juice (47.47% of total flavouring components) and peel (61.03%). The optimized pomelo marmalade had overall acceptability of 7.9 with total phenolic content of 1.08 mg GAE/g and DPPH free radical scavenging activity about 41.35%. Marmalade could be stored up to 180 days without any significant change in the organoleptic quality with total plate and yeast & mold count being within FSSAI limits. These findings indicate the potentiality of pomelo in value-added food product development that enhances its utility and reduce post-harvest wastage.