An ongoing search for profitable new uses for food-processing by-products has led Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists to discover that a compound found in orange oil decreases blood serum levels of the protein responsible for low-density lipoprotein (LDL), a major cholesterol carrier.
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Chemist John A. Manthey, at the ARS Citrus and Subtropical Products Research Laboratory in Winter Haven, Florida, has done extensive research on flavonoids in citrus peel by-products. He has focused on the polymethoxylated flavones, or PMFs, which typically occur at very high concentrations in the oil that is found in orange peel residue.
In Florida, about 700,000 tons of dried peel solids are left over from squeezing around 150 million boxes of juice oranges every year, on average. Most of this processing waste is now sold for livestock feed at little or no profit to citrus processors.
Manthey’s research has shown that the PMFs decrease blood serum levels of apoprotein B, the structural protein of LDL cholesterol. Too much circulating LDL cholesterol can clog arteries and eventually lead to heart attacks and strokes.
For the past eight years, Manthey has collaborated with KGK Synergize of London, Ontario, Canada, a company that specialises in research to identify health-promoting compounds and focuses on nutraceuticals.
ARS is the US Department of Agriculture’s chief in-house scientific research agency.
