First trimester of orange growth: Evolution of secondary metabolites and the anti-inflammatory effect

In 2016, around 124,246 thousand ton of oranges were produced and marketed worldwide. About 44% of this agricultural product represents the amount obtained during the extraction of the juice. Only a little part of this by-product is used by agro-industries for the production of pectin, molasses, fibers, oils and animal feed. However, this food residue contains high levels of active biological molecules (vitamin C, thiamine, niacin and pyridoxine). Orange peel can be found in various supermarkets in tea form and the pharmacological effects expected by consumers are against cough, inflammation, pain and high blood pressure. Therefore, this study aims to quantify and compare the natural products of the orange peel harvested in three successive months. Furthermore, we also intend to associate this chemical profile and the age of the fruit to anti-inflammatory activities.