[Background] Mandarin peel is a by-product from mandarin canning industry containing multiple functional substances with useful properties such as antibacterial and antioxidant activities.
[Objective] To evaluate the effect of bioprocessing, fresh mandarin peels were fermented by Rhizopus stolonifer JP13 for 4 days and then the peels’ antioxidant and antimicrobial activities were tested. The flavonoiuds , hesperidin and VC contents in dry peels were also determined.
[Results] The data showed that the fermented mandarin peel had promoted antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus , Aspergillus flavus , and Candida albicans. An increased scavenging effect on free radicals, with 73.0% of·OH scavenging activities were obtained when compared with fresh mandarin peels. We also observed a significant increase on content of flavonoid (334% ) and hesperindin (253.7% ), a reduced scavenging effect on O 2 - free radicals (13.94%), and a decrease content of VC (13.7%).
[Conclusion] The presaging of mandarin peel by Rhizopus stolonifer JP13 strain will promote the functional activities of mandarin peel and accelerate the process of manufacture Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium.