Metabolic Profiling of Wastes from Raw and Ripe Mango Seeds to Comprehend Its Beneficial Medicinal and Cosmetic Properties for Commercialization

Abstract

Mango (Mangifera indica) is a widely popular tropical fruit. When ripe, it is consumed either as fruit or juice, while raw mangoes are used in pickles, juice and curries. Apart from these, the seed kernels of ripe mangoes are in great demand by cosmetic and confectionary industries, while those from raw mangoes are used for medicinal purposes in traditional households of India. Although, the seed kernels have been used for various beneficial purposes, the inconsumable mango seed largely poses as a waste and biological pollutant. Therefore, it is pertinent to highlight the detailed composition and benefits of butter from various stages of mango kernel to highlight its commercial relevance. By using a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy based metabolic profiling, we studied the biochemical composition of different stages of mango kernel extract. We observed predominance of various types of fatty acids in all types of mango kernel with the ripe version showing the largest amount. The unripe versions though showed presences of a variety of aromats and antioxidants albeit at lower amounts. Our findings highlight that the unripe mango kernel extracts contains various aromats that have antimicrobial effects. India produces up to 23 million tonnes of mangoes every year and it has been estimated that it can produce up to 2.3 million tonnes of mango butter. Along with the fatty acids, these antimicrobials can be extracted as butter for commercial relevance thereby adding value to the seed kernel waste which otherwise pose as bio-pollutant.