Antioxidant and Nutritional Values of Selected Under-utilised Mangifera Species in Malaysia

Antioxidant properties and nutritional constituents of selected Mangifera species namely, M. caesia, M. foetida, M. laurina, M. longipetiolata, M. odorata, M. pajang, M. pentandra besides some landraces and commercial clones collected from four different sites in Malaysia, were studied. Results showed that M. caesia was the most potential source of antioxidant as evidenced by its most active scavenging activity with 92.09 ± 0.22% radical inhibition or IC₅₀ value of 8.14 ± 0.17 mg/ml. M. pajang showed the greatest amount of total phenolic (7055.65 ± 101.89 mg/100 g) and ascorbic acid (403.21 ± 46.83 mg/100 g) content. Highest protein content was observed in M. odorata var. Kuini KL with 6.02%, while the highest calcium content was found in M. pentandra and M. odorata var. Kuini KR with 140 mg/100 g. M. pentandra was also found to be the best source of potassium with 1930 mg/100 g. In addition to being the potential antioxidants, M. caesia and M. pajang also showed the highest magnesium (130 mg/100 g) and iron (7.31 mg/100 g) content, respectively. The present study indicates that underutilised Mangifera species are a potential source of antioxidants and nutrition with some of them being even better than common mango and other popular fruits.