In commercial grapefruit juice production, the enzyme naringinase can be used to remove the bitterness (debittering) created by naringin.

Naringin contains the basic flavonoid structure along with one rhamnose and one glucose unit attached to its aglycone portion, called naringenin, at the 7-carbon position.

The steric hindrance provided by the two sugar units makes naringin less potent than its aglycone counterpart, naringenin.

To avoid interference with drug absorption and metabolism, the consumption of citrus (especially grapefruit) and other juices with medications is advised against.

This leaves open the possibility that in vivo, naringin converted into naringenin by naringinase is what causes the inhibitory effect on CYP3A4.