A Green Process for the Extraction and Purification of Hesperidin from Mexican Lime Peel (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) that is Extendible to the Citrus Genus

The processing of Mexican limes generates great amounts of peel as a by-product. Lime peel is mainly rich in the flavonoid hesperidin, whose bioactivity is oriented mainly to cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The purpose of this work was to develop a green process for the extraction and purification of hesperidin from Mexican lime peel. The extraction of hesperidin was investigated on a laboratory scale by varying the solvent composition and the solid-to-solvent ratio, and then scaling this process (volume: 20 L). Next, a purification process using adsorption resins was assessed: first through static tests to determine the adsorption efficiency with two resins (FPX66, EXA118), and then on a packed column with 80 mL of resin at 25 degrees C. Lab-scale extraction showed that the best conditions were a solid-to-solvent ratio of 0.33 g/mL and 60% ethanol. After using these conditions at pilot scale and concentrating the solution, the hesperidin content of the extract was 0.303 mg/mL. Through static tests, higher adsorption efficiencies were achieved with the EXA-118 resin and diluted extract (4:6 ratio with 10% dimethylsulfoxide, (DMSO)). Finally, the purification process on a packed column from the diluted extract (hesperidin concentration of 0.109 mg/mL) had a mean recovery efficiency of almost 90%.