Reuse of Food Waste: The Chemical Composition and Health Properties of Pomelo (

The aim of the present study is to investigate the chemical profile, antioxidant activity, carbohydrate-hydrolysing enzyme inhibition, and hypolipidemic effect of essential oils (EOs) extracted from Sicilian Citrus maxima (pomelo) flavedo. Using gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis (GC-MS) we analysed the Eos of five cultivars of C. maxima, namely, 'Chadock', 'Maxima', 'Pyriformis', 'Terracciani', and 'Todarii', and their blends. The antioxidant activity was performed by using a multi-target approach using 2,2'-Azino-Bis-3-Ethylbenzothiazoline-6-Sulfonic acid (ABTS), 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing ability power (FRAP), and β-carotene bleaching tests. The α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and lipase-inhibitory activities were also assessed. GC-MS analyses revealed D-limonene as the main monoterpene hydrocarbon in all cultivars, albeit with different percentages in the range of 21.72-71.13%. A good content of oxygenated monoterpenes was detected for all cultivars, especially for 'Todarii'. The analysis of the principal components (PCA), and related clusters (HCA), was performed to find chemo-diversity among the analysed samples. EOs from 'Chadock' and 'Maxima' were statistically similar to each other, and they differed from P3 in the smaller amount of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, while the oils from 'Terracciani' and 'Todarii' were found to be chemically and statistically different. 'Chadock' EO was the most active to scavenge radicals (IC