Determination Of Relative Levels Of Vitamin C In Different Citrus Fruits Cultivated In Nigeria

Abstract

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a water soluble vitamin that is needed for healthy gums and helps protect the body against infections and enhance the immune system. Deficiency of vitamin C leads to a disease condition called "scurvy”. Though citrus fruits are good source of vitamin C, it is believed that different species have different levels of vitamin C. Six (6) different species of citrus fruits cultivated in Nigeria were used for this analysis to determine their vitamin C levels using apple for comparison. The result clearly showed that apple had the lowest content of vitamin C (11.44mg/100g), while orange had the highest content   (54.56mg/100g), followed by grape (49.28mg/100g), lemon (44.88mg/100g), shaddock (27.28mg/100g), tangerine (26.40mg/100g) and lime (19.36/100g). A good knowledge of vitamin C levels in different citrus fruits will serve as a guide to obtaining the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin C naturally from these citrus fruits.