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Discover the wonderful world of Limonin

Limonin, also known as cypress lactone, is a bitter component of citrus juice drinks. Sweet orange is the world's most widely cultivated citrus species, with a better flavor, and is commonly used for juice processing in addition to fresh food. Oranges generally have a thin rind, the rind ranges from orange to yellow, and the quality of the juice is also good, so it is also suitable for juice processing. The bitter components in citrus juice are flavonoids and Limonin. Some citrus juices have a bitter taste when heated, due to the fact that Limonin monolactone, which is a precursor of Limonin and has no bitter taste, breaks down into lactone and becomes Limonin with a bitter taste when it comes in contact with acidic fruit juice. Some citrus fresh juices also have a bitter flavor, mainly from the limonin-like substances, which diminish as the fruit ripens.

Limonin is a crystal with bitter flavor (dichloromethane + isopropanol or acetic acid). Difficult to dissolve in water, ether, soluble in methanol, ethanol, glacial acetic acid.

Chinese name: Limonin

English Name: LIMONIN

CAS No.: 1180-71-8

Molecular Formula: C26H30O8

Molecular weight: 470.51

Appearance: white fine powder

Limonin analogs have a variety of biological activities including antiviral, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and Research on the physiological activities of Limonin analogs began with the medicinal plants of the family Dunaliidae.

(1) Analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects: There are studies on the isolation of Limonin from Evodiarutaecarpavar. bodinieri and the corresponding experimental studies. For example, it was found that the number of foot licking in mice could be significantly reduced by administering Limonin to mice. Meanwhile, experimental studies conducted by Limonin analogs on the vascular permeability of acetic acid channels, on bradykinin-induced foot swelling response, and on arachidonic acid-induced ear swelling found that the product has obvious analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.

(2) Anxiolytic and sedative effects: Hypnotic test studies on anesthetized mice found that Limonin, Nomilin, Opa-Ketone nd other Limonin compounds are able to prolong the sleep time of mice induced by the Slang a Chloralose and Ullatan, wherein the compound Nomilin has a stronger sedative effect.

(3) Anti-insect and insecticidal activity: Regarding the feeding deterrence of Limonin analogs, the high activity of indo-bitter dungenessin isolated from the seeds of Azadirachtaindica was effective against more than 60 kinds of insects. Citrus limonin analogs also showed activity against insects and termites. It is of great significance to develop and utilize these natural Limonin analogs as biological insect control agents.

(4) In addition to the above biological effects, it also has antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, inhibition of HIV, lowering cholesterol, pronounced diuretic effect, improving cardiovascular circulation and sleep, antiviral, regulation of cytochromes and other effects, which has a very good health care function.

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