Naringinis the major flavonoidglycoside in grapefruit and gives grapefruit juice its bitter taste. It is
metabolized to the flavanonenaringenin in humans. Both
naringenin and hesperetin, which are the aglycones of naringin and hesperidin, occur naturally in citrus fruits.
Naringin exerts a variety of
pharmacological effects such as antioxidant activity, blood lipid lowering, anticancer activity, and inhibition of selected drug-metabolizing
cytochrome P**0enzymes。Ingestion
of naringin and related flavonoids can also affect the intestinal
absorption of certain drugs, leading to either an increase or
decrease in circulating drug levels.
