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Antioxidant compounds of mango peel
Upon extraction of raw and ripened mango peel, many compounds were found contained within the peel. Among those that came out of the extraction were three groups of antioxidant compounds: polyphenols, anthocyanins and carotenoids. The antioxidants displayed good activity which was determined by several criteria.

The first is the effectiveness of the compounds to scavenge for free radicals such as DPPH radicals, hydroxyl radicals, peroxyl radicals. Most of this activity is from the reactivity of a hydroxyl group on an aromatic ring known as a phenol moiety that has the ability to scavenge free radicals by donating hydrogen or electrons. The second criteria used to determine activity is the reducing power of the antioxidant compounds to reduces Fe3+ to the ferrous form, Fe2+. Polyphenols, anthocyanins and carotenoids are all good electron donors allowing them to Fe3+. The inhibition of microsomal lipid peroxidation is one of the important areas looked at in this study. Lipid peroxidation is the oxidative degradation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the plasma membrane which leads to membrane destruction and damage to the cell. The last test of effectiveness is the inhibition of lipoxygenase activity. Lipoxygenases are a family of non-heme containing enzymes that have a key role in the biosynthesis of an assortment of bio-regulatory compounds. In this case the antioxidants interact with free radicals and/or reduce the active heme site on lipoxygenase non-specifically.

Not only do the antioxidants found in mango peel have a free radical scavenging and reducing effect, but when applied to cancerous HeLa cells they have a beneficial effect against the cancer. The major compounds inhibit the uncontrollable proliferation of cancer cells, induces apoptosis of cancerous cells, and affects the expression rates of certain apoptotic proteins. When the same concentration of these antioxidants were applied to healthy lung fibroblasts, none of the apoptotic effects were seen. While mango peels showed the largest antioxidant and anti cancer effects, mango flesh was also tested for the same properties and lower levels of scavenging on certain free radicals is noticed.