Naringenin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A bitter flavonoid compound found mainly in grapefruit and other citrus fruits, studied for its antioxidant properties
2. A plant-derived flavanone pigment occurring naturally in citrus peel and pulp, with possible health-promoting effects
3. A naturally occurring citrus flavonoid that gives grapefruit its characteristic bitter taste and is researched for medicinal uses

Etymology: Naringenin is a plant chemical, and its name comes from the citrus fruit that first yielded it. The Latin genus name for citrus, "Citrus", gave rise to "naringin", the bitter glycoside found in grapefruit and related fruits, and naringenin is the aglycone left behind when the sugar part of naringin is removed by hydrolysis. The "-in" ending is the standard chemists' suffix for compounds isolated from natural sources, and "-genin" marks a sugar-free core of a glycoside. The bitter-tasting naringin takes its own name from the Latin "naringus", a term for the bitter orange, which in turn traces back to the Sanskrit "nāraṅga", the name of the orange tree. The compound was characterized in the nineteenth century as chemists worked out the structure of citrus flavonoids, and its formula was established in the early twentieth century. Naringenin is a flavanone, a member of the flavonoid family of plant pigments and defence compounds, and the name thus records a chain of descent from a fruit's bitterness to a laboratory molecule.