Hypolipidemic Activity of Microwave-Dehydrated Mango (<i>Mangifera indica</i> L.) Powder in Mice Fed a Hypercholesterolemic Diet

Abstract

The effect of dietary supplementation with mango ( Mangifera indica L.) powder obtained by microwave dehydration was studied in normal and hypercholesterolemic mice. The phenolic profiles in methanolic extracts and antioxidant activities were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) assays, respectively. The total phenolic content of microwave-dehydrated mango powder was 1451.7 ± 26.7 μggallic acid equivalents/g dry weight. The main phenolic compounds identified were gallic acid, epicatechin, ferulic acid, and catechin. The anti-oxidant activity was 14.6% higher in microwave-dehydrated mango powder than in conventional mango powder. Mice were fed a hypercholesterolemic diet (1 g cholesterol/100g over 7 days). The hypercholesterolemic mice whose diets were supplemented with microwave-dehydrated mango powder showed a significant decrease (P ≤ 0.05) in total serum cholesterol compared to the hypercholesterolemic mice and the mice fed with conventional dehydrated mango powder. We observed a significant increase (P ≤ 0.05) in HDL-c levels in the microwave-dehydrated mango powder group mice (12.4 ± 1.3 mmol/L) compared to the hypercholesterolemic group (8.6 ± 1.4 mmol/L) and the conventional-dehydrated mango powder group (10.9 ± 1.3 mmol/L). The mice provided with microwave-dehydrated mango powder had significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05) levels of serum LDL-c (36.0%) and total cholesterol (43.3%) compared to the mice in hypercholesterolemic group. Notably, the atherogenic index was 72% lower in the microwave-dehydrated mango powder group compared to the hypercholesterolemic group. These results suggest that the biocompounds, such as polyphenols and dietary fiber, found in mango pulp might improve the lipid profile in mice fed a hypercholesterolemic diet.