1998 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 29-32
The effects of lemon juice and its crude flavonoids on blood pressure were examined using spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The 5% diluted lemon juice was orally administered in the diet to SHR, and they tended to have a lower systolic blood pressure than the control rats after 90 days. The systolic blood pressure of SHR fed a diet containing crude flavonoids from the juice for 16 weeks was significantly lower than that of the control group (p<0.05). The systolic blood pressure with administration of fraction B, which was fractionated from the crude flavonoids, was significantly lower (p<0.05) after 4 weeks. The crude flavonoids and fraction B contained abundant flavonoid glycosides of eriocitrin, hesperidin, and 6,8-di-C-β-glucosyldiosmin as determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. The crude flavonoids and the flavonoid glycosides had an inhibitory effect on angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE).
