Background Anxiety and mood disorders are among the mental health diseases that have exponentially increased in prevalence owing to the hectic and stressful lifestyle. In addition to negatively impacting people’s physical health, this has resulted in a major psychological, social, and financial burden. A lot of emphasis has been placed on dietary and lifestyle modifications in the ongoing search for medication-free treatments. Investigating the connection between the consumption of specific fruits and vegetables and mental health issues such as depression has produced some intriguing and occasionally encouraging results. The genus Citrus with over 1300 species of plants is enriched with a plethora of polyphenolic compounds on the one hand and multicomponent volatile oil content on the other hand. Purpose The current work is centered on examining the range of phytoconstituents found in various citrus species—both underutilized and utilized—as promising avenues for future anxiolytic research. The work also details the proposed pharmacological mechanisms of isolated components and clinical trial advancements of selected citrus species. Methods Various databases, including PubMed and ScienceDirect, were used to search and collect relevant literature published in the past 10 years (2014–2024). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) criteria recommended for drafting methodical reviews were followed. Results Initially, 1791 articles were collected through an electronic database search, irrelevant titles/abstracts (1449) and other types of articles (05) were excluded. Out of 342 assessed reports, 187 duplicate articles were excluded. Finally, list of 67 articles was included in this narrative review. Conclusion Although research and development, as well as the commercial use of several citrus varieties, have attracted some interest recently, analyzing neglected citrus species closely can help to improve their processing into well-known anxiolytic leads by revealing their untapped potential. The work emphasizes the extensive exploration of underutilized citrus species, which have a rich bioactive pro file and enormous potential in pharmaceutical research and development.
