Background: Mango bark is an important agro-industrial residue from mango pruning. In traditional medicine, the aqueous extract from mango bark (MBE) has been used in ethnomedicine for the treatment of many diseases. However, there is scarce information using cellular models to evaluate the potential use of this plant material for human consumption. In this study, the phenolic content from the MBE from four varieties (Kent, Keitt, Ataulfo and Tommy Atkins) was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array detector (HPLC-DAD) and liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/MS-TOF). Additionally, the cellular antioxidant activity of the MBE from the four mango varieties were compared. Finally, the intestinal permeability of the main polyphenols found in the MBE (mangiferin and gallic acid) was evaluated.
Results: Mangiferin and gallic acid were the main constituents in the MBE from the four mango varieties. Furthermore, the Ataulfo variety showed the highest cellular antioxidant activity (67%) at the concentration of 100 µg mL−1 . The intestinal permeability of mangiferin present in the bark extracts was 3- to 4.8-fold higher than those of mangiferin as standard, whereas the intestinal permeability of gallic acid varied among the tested extracts.
Conclusion: MBE has the potential to exert antioxidant activity at the cellular level and can have an impact on human health. It may also be a good source for the extraction of polyphenols mainly mangiferin.
Keywords: Caco-2 cells; cellular antioxidant activity; gallic acid; intestinal permeability; mangiferin; mango bark.