PROCESSING THE INDONESIAN TANGERINE (CITRUS NOBILIS LOUR.)

The recent annual production of citrus in Indonesia is nearly 2 million tons per year, and the Indonesian tangerine is the major variety grown by farmers. Processing is one way to reduce price fluctuations but the constraint is the bitter taste in the fruit caused by limonin and naringin. Limonin is alimonoid whilst naringin a flavonoid. The article offers a view of the research and development undertaken on the processing of Indonesian tangerine since 2005. Many attempts have been made to reduce bitterness during tangerine juice processing including application of mem-brane ultrafiltration and microfiltration, naringinase production and applications, as well production of citrus juice concentrated up to 32°Brix. All these approaches did generate low concentrations of limonin and naringin. However, limonin and naringin are beneficial for the cure of some chronic diseases and therefore must be the focus of potential research topics. Thus, development of tangerine processing in Indonesia will only be successful when the concentrations of both limonin and naringin in the processed product is attained to the desired concentrations to satisfy consumer tastes while retaining health benefits.