Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Scientia Horticulturae journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scihorti Harvest maturity stage affects the concentrations of health-promoting compounds: Lupeol, mangiferin and phenolic acids in the pulp and peel of ripe ‘Kensington Pride’ mango fruit Mekhala Dinushi Kananke Vithana a , Zora Singh a, ⁎ , Stuart Keith Johnson a,b a Curtin Horticulture Research Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth 6845, Western Australia, Australia b Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth 6845, Western Australia, Australia ARTICLE INFO Chemical compounds studied in this article: Lupeol (PubChem CID: 259846) Mangiferin (PubChem CID: 5281647) Gallic acid (PubChem CID: 370) Chlorogenic acid (PubChem CID: 1794427) Vanillic acid (PubChem CID: 8468) Ferulic acid (PubChem CID: 445858) Caffeic acid (PubChem CID: 689043) Ascorbic acid (PubChem CID: 54670067) Keywords: Mangifera indica L. Harvest maturity Health-promoting compounds Lupeol Mangiferin Phenolic acids ABSTRACT Mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit is known as a good source of lupeol, mangiferin and phenolic acids. However, the effect of harvest maturity on the concentrations of these compounds in the pulp and peel of ripe ‘Kensington Pride’ mango fruit has not been reported. Thus, quantitative analysis of lupeol, mangiferin, phenolic acids and other important health-promoting compounds in the pulp and peel of ripe mango fruit harvested at four different maturity stages namely, green mature (commercial standard), sprung stage, half ripe and tree ripe was carried out. The highest concentrations of lupeol, mangiferin, vanillic acid, ferulic acid and caffeic acid in both pulp and peel and gallic acid, chlorogenic acid and total phenols in the peel were recorded in ripe fruit harvested at the sprung stage. The highest concentrations of ascorbic acid and total carotenoids in pulp and total antioxidant capacity in peel were recorded in the fruit harvested at tree ripe stage, whilst the highest antioxidant capacity in ripe pulp was recorded in those fruit harvested at half ripe stage. The sprung stage could, therefore, be con- sidered as the best stage to harvest to obtain mango fruit with enhanced health benefits. 1. Introduction Nutrition recommendations would provide a feasible mean to overcome the economic burden of current health issues worldwide (Kruger et al., 2014). Based on the findings of many clinical and epi- demiological studies, polyphenols present in fruit and vegetables are potential compounds that can reduce the risk of several degenerative diseases (Scalbert et al., 2005). Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a good dietary source of polyphenols, antioxidants, vitamins and carotenoids (Masibo and He, 2009). Mango fruit was also recognized as a good source of lupeol in the recent past (Gallo and Sarachine, 2009). Lupeol is a pentacyclic triterpene with a potential to act as an anti-in- flammatory, anti-invasive, and cholesterol-lowering agent with a sig- nificant ability to reduce the risk of a range of chronic conditions (Siddique and Saleem, 2011) including its ability to target diseased human cells without causing any damage to the healthy cells (Saleem, 2009). Mangiferin is another important compound found in mango with a significant medicinal value (Masibo and He, 2008). Its ability to act as an anticancer compound is well documented (Masibo and He, 2009). Mango is also rich in phenolic acids such as gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, vanillic acid, ferulic acid and caffeic acid among several others. Gallic acid is identified as the major phenolic acid in mango fruit with a strong antioxidant potential (Kim et al., 2007; Yen et al., 2002). In several studies, it was identified as the principal constituent in plant extracts that inhibit the growth of human prostate carcinoma cells (Veluri et al., 2006; Chen et al., 2009). Based on several in vivo and in vitro studies, chlorogenic acid was also found to be capable of exhibiting important antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic activities (Farah et al., 2008). Similarly, ferulic acid is a common phenolic compound that is considered as one of the key ingredients in indigenous Chinese medi- cine (Ou and Kwok, 2004). The amount of phenolic compounds in fruit is strongly dependent on the degree of ripeness (Belitz et al., 2004). Mango fruit is generally harvested at the green mature stage for maximum storage life, for easier https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2018.08.019 Received 21 May 2018; Received in revised form 10 August 2018; Accepted 10 August 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: Z.Singh@curtin.edu.au (Z. Singh). Scientia Horticulturae 243 (2019) 125–130 0304-4238/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T