Analysis of quality characteristics for food ingredients using fine powder of Jeju citrus

In order to assess whether the fine powder of Jeju citrus can be used for better quality characteristics in food processing, we first prepared ultra-fine powder C20 (20 mesh of citrus), C40 (40 mesh of citrus), and C100 (100 mesh of citrus). The mean particle size of C20, C40, and C100 were 662.6±176.9, 344.6±126.8, and 91.7±54.9 μm, respectively. The antioxidant activity measured by the 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′ -Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical scavenging assay and ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assay was the highest in C100. Moreover, increasing mesh of citrus increased the L* and b* values of citrus, but not the a* value of citrus. Using a prototype developed from the powder, we performed sensory tests for taste, color, texture, flavor and overall preference. C100 showed the highest score compared to C20 and C40 in the sensory evaluation. Particularly, C100 had excellent flavor among all the powders. Our results collectively indicate that the Jeju citrus supplementation has better quality characteristics during food processing; this may aid in the development of food ingredients for functional food materials. Furthermore, a high mesh of citrus provides better quality in citrus-based food processing.