Degreening and postharvest storage influences ‘Star Ruby’ grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.) bioactive compounds

► First report on modulation of bioactive compounds by industrial degreening treatment. ► Ethylene treatment significantly improved peel colour and overall quality. ► Degreened fruits had higher nomilin. ► Narirutin, naringin, poncirin, DNAG and bergamottin were low in degreened fruits. ► No effect of degreening on taste, vitamins, certain bioactive compounds and radical scavenging activity. Ethylene is commercially used for artificial degreening of early season grapefruits. The present study investigated the effect of degreening and storage period on Star Ruby grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.) bioactive compounds. Freshly harvested grapefruits were degreened in commercial packing shed for 60h using 2ppm of ethylene at a constant temperature of 20°C. Both degreened and non-degreened (control) fruits were stored at 10°C for 21days and later transferred to 20°C for a period of 14days to simulate shipment and retail store market conditions. Bioactive compounds including carotenoids, limonoids, flavonoids and furocoumarins were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. Nomilin was significantly higher (P