Citrus Limonoids are
highly oxigenated triterpenoids.
Limonoids are abundantly
present in Rutaceae (citrus fruits) and Meliaceae (neem) families.
Thirty six- limonoid
aglycones and seventeen limonoid glucosides have been isolated from Citrus
and its hybrids (Hasegawa and Miyake 1996).
Limonoids impart bitterness
to citrus juices and not favored by citrus juice industry for long time.
However, bitter limonoid aglycones turn to glucosides with maturity of
fruit and Limonoid glucosides are tasteless and water soluble.
Recent research results
shows that Limonoids has many biological functions: anticancer activity;
antifeedant activity against insects and termites (Alford and Bentley,
1986, Alford et al., 1987).
Limonoids have shown
to reduce the risk of following cancers: Oral cavity, larynx, esophagus,
stomach, pancreas, lung, colon, and rectum.
More than twenty epidemological
studies suggest an inverse relation between consumption of citrus fruits
and many types of cancer.
Limonoids have ability
to induce detoxifying enzyme system, glutathione S-transferase and this
may be the possible mode of action of limonoids in cancer chemoprevention
(Lam et al., 1997).
Citrus
Limonoids 
