Citrus Oils and Essences

Edible Oil and Fat Products: Specialty Oils and Oil Products
Siyu Wang

Siyu Wang

Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

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Fereidoon Shahidi

Fereidoon Shahidi

Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada

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Chi-Tang Ho

Chi-Tang Ho

Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

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First published: 17 February 2020

Abstract

Citrus fruits are among the most popular fruits nowadays and have a very long history of production and use. However, within the past century, industrial technologies began to develop in order to convert citrus fruits into commercial products. Each year, millions of tons of citrus fruits are delivered to factories for processing and juice production. Historically, the oldest citrus product is the oil. In ancient Sicily, where early Italian citrus industry had just been introduced, lemons were primarily grown for production of lemon oil, and juice was treated as a waste product until its later use for citric acid recovery. The early use of lemon and orange oils was mainly in perfumery and pharmaceuticals. With rapid development of science and technology, more areas of use of citrus oils were found, for which more detailed information on chemical composition and properties were required. The modern perfume and flavor industries have benefited from further research on citrus peel oil and essence. Besides, the yield of citrus seed oil has increased since citrus seeds were discovered as a new source of edible oil. In this article, the chemical composition, properties, and uses of citrus oils and essences are provided.

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