Characteristics of mango leaves

Mango leaves are the foliage of an evergreen tree belonging to the Anacardiaceae family. The leaves grow on large trees that can reach 15 to 30 meters in height and thrive in tropical to subtropical regions worldwide. Leaves droop like ribbons on slender petioles, borne mainly in rosettes at the tips of the branches and numerous twigs. New leaves appear periodically and irregularly on a few branches at a time.

First, they are yellowish, pink, deep-rose or wine-red and in time, they become dark-green and glossy. Full-grown leaves may be 10-32 cm long. Hundreds, perhaps even up to 4,000, small, yellowish or reddish flowers are borne in profuse, showy, erect, pyramidal, branched clusters. 25% to 98% male, the rest hermaphroditic.

Being rich in antioxidants, these leaves are loaded with anti-inflammatory properties. It also has anti-microbial properties. As per studies, these leaves prevent degenerating cells and cell damage.

Mango leaves are rich in vitamins like vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin B. It contains other compounds like steroids, alkaloids, riboflavin, Thiamin, phenolic, beta-carotene, flavonoids, etc.

According to Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine, mango leaves are used for thousands of years now for their healing properties. Traditionally, mango leaves have been used for natural healing applications such as treating diarrhea, dysentery, gastrointestinal tract disorders, scurvy, typhoid fever, sore throat, and as a febrifuge.

The mango leaves are good for all kinds of respiratory problems. It is especially useful for people suffering from colds, bronchitis and asthma.
Characteristics of mango leaves

Mango can fight against diabetic

The mango is a fruit of the Mangifera tree. Mangoes (Mangifera indica) consist of about 30 species of tropical fruiting trees. It can be eaten raw or ripe. Mango is the national tree of Bangladesh, as well as the national fruit of India, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

Many of the pharmacological properties present in mango and those might be due to the presence of phenolic acids. These phenolic compounds possess potent antioxidant activity helpful for protecting the body tissues against oxidative stress with their anti-diabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antilithiatic and anticarcinogenic properties.

Mangos were demonstrated to have glucose lowering effects possibly due to fiber, vitamins, minerals and other bioactive compounds.

Among all chemical components in mango, mangiferin was found as a major chemical which is responsible for anti-diabetic activity.

Mangiferin, a bioactive substance found in mango seeds (0.42 mg/kg), peel (1690.4 mg/kg), and pulp (4.4 mg/kg), is thought to have hypoglycemic properties.

Mangiferin is a xanthone with high antioxidative activity. It inhibits sucrase, isomaltase, and maltase, and thus decreases in glucose intestinal absorption. Mango also contains dietary fiber, which can reduce digestion of carbohydrate and lower glucose absorption.

Apart from the fruit, mango flesh, leaf, stem-bark also has been reported to have anti-diabetic, antilithiatic and free radical scavenging properties.

Mango leaves have the capability to improve insulin production and distribution of glucose. They can help in stabilizing blood sugar levels. Mango leaves are also loaded with pectin, vitamin C and fiber. Together they are beneficial for both diabetes and cholesterol.
Mango can fight against diabetic

Carotenoid in mango

A mango’s rich, yellow-orange flesh color contributes more than just a beautiful hue to the tropical fruit. Colour pigments, termed Carotenoids, are responsible for the characteristic colour of mango.

Carotenoids have very diverse roles in biological functions of animals and plants including provitamin A activity, antioxidant activity, cell communication, immune function enhancement, UV skin protection, accessory pigments for light harvesting, and protection against photo-oxidative damage.

Carotenoids, which impart yellow, orange, and/or red colors to many fruits, have antioxidant health properties which it can help in preventing the free radical damage. Thus, carotenoids have been noted as being the most abundant micronutrients found in cancer-preventative foods. Antioxidants help to repair damage to the body caused by free radicals, which can contribute to a range of health problems including cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

The action of carotenoids against diseases has been attributed to antioxidant properties, especially their ability to quench singlet oxygen and interact with free radicals which take part in modulation of carcinogen metabolism, inhibition of cell proliferation, enhancement of cell differentiation, stimulation of cell to cell communication.

Carotenoids comprise the colorful pigments of many fruits. Some of these, such as beta carotene, alpha carotene, and beta cryptoxanthin, are precursors of vitamin A. Vitamin A is needed for eyesight and nerve health.

Carotenoid in mango

Vitamin A and pro-vitamin A content in mango fruit

Vitamin A is an essential nutrient that is obtained by a dietary intake of preformed vitamin A (retinol and its esterified form, retinyl ester) or of provitamin A carotenoids. The vitamin A content of the fresh fruits was determined by the extraction and quantitative determination of the pro-vitamin A carotenoid- β-carotene.

Mango is considered a rich source of carotenoids. Carotenoids have antioxidants, anti-carcinogenic and anti-mutagenic properties, giving protection against various diseases such as different types of tumors, cardio vascular diseases as well as age related illnesses.

Vitamin-A is required for maintaining healthy mucosa and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in carotenes is known to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.

Vitamin A is needed in the retina of the eye in the form of a specific metabolite, the light absorbing retinal, that is absolutely necessary for both low light (scotopic vision) and colour vision.

Carotenoids are vital in their role as precursors of important vitamins such as vitamin A. They also play extremely vital role as immune system booster aiding the body’s ability to combat diseases and infections. Most studies have shown that β-carotene is both the principal provitamin A carotenoid and the main pigment in mango.

Carotenoids are isoprenoid compounds, biosynthesized by tail-to-tail linkage of two C20 molecules, which produces the parent C40 carbon skeleton from which all the variations are derived.

Carotenoids such as β-carotene, α-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin, which have at least one unsubstituted β-ring, are vitamin A precursors that play an important role in human health.

Serving Size: 1 cup, sliced (165g) of mango provides 35% of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin A.

Vitamin A and pro-vitamin A content in mango fruit

Pharmacological properties of mangiferin

Mangiferin (1,3,6,7-tetrahydroxy-2-[3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]xanthen-9-one) is a naturally occurring polyphenol in several fruits, one being Mangifera indica L., one of the most popular tropical fruit bearing trees in the world.

Mango leaves have been used by traditional medicine of a number of peoples for centuries. The key biological substance in them is a polyphenol called mangiferin. Mangiferin commonly used as antioxidant for medical purposes.

Mangiferin inhibited the hydroxyl radicals by 84.3 % at 37 °С and 79.8 % at 80°С, as it showed a higher antioxidant activity than quercetine.

Mango leaves

Mangiferin is a heat stable molecule and it possesses antioxidant, antidiarrhea, dyslipidemic, anti-diabetic, antibacterial and anticancer activities.

Studies have suggested that Mangiferin also has an in vitro anticancer effect in cellular lines of acute myeloid leukemia. It was also reported Mangiferin as a promising natural product with benefits as analgesic, anti-sclerotic, antiviral, cardio and hepatoprotective, anti-allergic, monoamine oxygenase (MAO) inhibitor, and protector against UV radiation.

These polyphenols of mangiferin exhibit antioxidant properties and tend to decrease the oxygen-free radicals, thereby reducing the DNA damage. Indeed, its capability to modulate several key inflammatory pathways undoubtedly helps installing the progression of carcinogenesis.
Pharmacological properties of mangiferin

What is mangiferin?

It is xanthonoid found in mangoes. Mangiferin (1,3,6,7 – tetrahydroxyxanthone –C2- β- D-glucoside) is synthesized in leaves and remains stored at bark. During flushing, mangiferin is mobilized into the growing region and is utilized forming new shoots and leaves.

Mangiferin commonly used as antioxidant for medical purposes. Mangiferin from the leaves has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory, diuretic, chloretic and cardiotonic activities and displays a high antibacterial activity against gram positive bacteria.

It has been recommended as a drug in preventing dental plaques. Mangiferin shows antiviral effect against type I herpes simplex virus which could be useful in anti-herpes ointments. Mangiferin also has shown anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-atherogenic properties.

In addition, the chemical structure of mangiferin strongly favors iron chelation - a property that enhances its antioxidant properties.
What is mangiferin?

What are the benefits of mango juice?

Mango fruit and mango extract are known to many modern ladies as some of the most effective herbal remedies for weight loss. Mango juice is an excellent natural source of vitamins, micro-elements and nutrients.

Mangoes contain digestive enzymes that help to break down proteins and aid digestion. Rich in vitamin C and beta-carotene, this golden-fleshed fruit is also good source of B vitamins, potassium and magnesium.

This tropical fruit is very rich in potassium, one of the most important microelements for human cardiovascular health.

Drinking mango juice will help to control blood pressure, strengthen heart muscle, improve the function of nerve system, improve blood quality and keep a proper fluid balance in human body.

A glass of freshly squeezed mango juice can provide with a half of daily dose of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen free radicals.
What are the benefits of mango juice?

Tryptophan in mango

There are eight essential amino acids that are vital for humans, and they are as follow: Lysine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Methimine, Phenylalamine, Theonine, Tryptophan and Valine. All these are available in the proteins produced in the seeds of several plants.

Mango is a fruit with rich sources for tryptophan. Tryptophan works as a safe and effective food remedy for insomnia and emotional complaints. It is essential for blood clotting and digestive juices.

It prevents early aging and its related effects on eye, hair and teeth. Tryptophan is protein found in mango, acts as a precursor to serotonin in the body – that is, the body can take that’s substance and convert it into the feel good neurotransmitter.
Tryptophan in mango

Beta-cryptoxanthin

Mango fruit is an excellent source of Vitamin-A and flavonoids like beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and beta-cryptoxanthin. Beta-cryptoxanthin has not only characteristics as pro-vitamin A but also high anti-carcinogenic action and high antioxidant action.

The main medical application reported for beta-cryptoxanthin is in bone homeostasis. It has a stimulatory effect on bone calcification and in periodontitis preventing bone resorption most likely by inhibiting the interleukin production induced by bacteria pathogens and mechanical stress.

In Singapore, scientists examined the diet and heath of more than63,000 men and women over an eight year time span. They found that those who ate the most beta-cryptoxanhin were 27 percent less likely to develop lung cancer.

In twenty-three year long study from Finland, researchers reported that among antioxidants, only vitamin E and beta-cryptoxanthin proved effective at reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Beta-cryptoxanthin tends to be affected by light, heat and oxygen. It tend to be isomerism by light and heat and furthermore, polyene is cleaved by oxidation.
Beta-cryptoxanthin

Folk medicine of mango

Mangoes are popular in a wide variety of folk medicine. Every part of mango plants is beneficial and has been utilized in folk medicine.

In many countries in the tropics, mango bark and leaves are used as teas for diarrhea and related diseases. Many folk medicines have been prepared from mango extracts and resin used in treating diarrhea chronic dysentery, fever, chest problems, insomnia, diabetes, chronic urethritis resulting from gonorrhea and other ills.

Mango is conspicuous for its high content of tannins, the astringent and anti-inflammatory effects of which make it plausible that it gives some relief for these conditions.

The nut shell and juice are used in folk remedies for warts in Brazil.

Leaves are chewed to improve the gums, and smoke inhaled for hiccups and throat afflictions in India. Indian people also make mango paste and cooked together with mint, ground cumin seeds, salt, pepper and sugar. The paste then diluted with water and drunk to prevent sunstroke.

Chinese medicine has used the smoke from smoldering leaves also to treat hiccups and throat ailments and a poultice to treat asthma, cough and skin problems.

They also used the leaf tea to treat asthma, bronchitis, coughs, diabetes, diarrhea, hypertension, insomnia and whooping cough.
Folk medicine of mango

Mango consumption for diabetic

Mangoes are the most widely consumed fruit in the world. It has been identified as a particularly useful food when it comes to the fight against diabetes.

Mango have also role to help treatment of metabolic disorder. It is a powerful medicinal food. Actually there are a lot of researches done looking at nutritional value of temperate fruit but not at tropical fruit. Mangoes contain nutrients that can help clear up skin, promote eye health, stave off diabetes and even prevent the formation and spreads of cancer.

What is diabetes? Diabetes is occurred when the amount of glucose in blood is too high, and the body didn’t use it in as per requirement.

Based on data provide by American Diabetes Association (ADA), about 17 million people in the United States have diabetes.

Glucose normally comes from food eaten. Glucose then is converted to the energy as required by the body by chemical name insulin. Insulin produced by pancreas. If not enough insulin produced then diabetes will occur.

Eating mango everyday can help people fighting against high cholesterol as well as diabetes. A study conducted in 2006 at the University of Queensland, Australia indicates that ripe mangoes contain chemicals that act in manner similar to the drugs used for treating diabetes and cholesterol.

According to the study eating mangoes can decrease inflammation and resulting high cholesterol, as well as block the formation of various health conditions.

Research suggests some compounds in mangoes work by activating or inhibiting groups of receptors known as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors.

Mangos too have other chemical compound such as norathyriol, a by-product of mangiferin, and also quercetin.

Another research presented at a meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, proposed that eating mangoes daily can help moderate and even lower blood sugar levels.
Mango consumption for diabetic

Contribution of mango to human health and nutrition

Mangoes have long been valued as a health promoting fruit. The benefits are really worth discovering.

It is common knowledge that their health benefits are due to their high concentration of carotenoids, antioxidants nutrients and various phytochemicals.

One large mango will provide the total vitamin A required for one day per average adult. Vitamin A can be stored by the body, in the liver, however the body will utilize vitamin A, especially during times of infection and viruses.

Compounds in the aqueous portion of the mango include not only water-soluble nutrients, such as vitamin C, but also valuable flavonoid compounds which appear to contribute to the mango’s anticancer effect.

Mango is also good source of the mineral chlorine, which is vital for normal blood pressure, purifying the blood, body cleansing and assisting in the digestion of protein foods.

The beta carotene content of mango, plus the vitamin C and chlorine content will all provide a cleansing and antioxidant effect on the bloods system. Vitamin C, possessing antioxidant properties, promotes healthy immune function and collagen formation.

Beta carotene is required for growth, strong bones and teeth, healthy skin, hair and for the eyes. Consumption of natural fruits rich in carotenes is known to protect body from lung and oral cavity cancers.
Contribution of mango to human health and nutrition

Quercetin in mango

Mangos are very healthy treat. A strong source of beta-carotene quercetin, and astragalin, they help neutralize free radicals that can damage cells. 

Quercetin-3-galctoside, quercetin-3-glucosode and quercetin-3-arabinose have been detected in mangos. 

Quercetin has gained the attention of the supplement industry and is now widely promoted as a natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant magic bullet.

In human body quercetin helps to keep bones from dissolving away. Quercetin inhibits osteoclasts form taken away calcium from bones, which was causing the formation pits in the bones.

Quercetin also can reduce the risk of atherosclerosis.

It is a flavonoid well-known to inhibit growth and heat shock protein synthesis of cancer cells. The heat shock reduced the cell viability of the quercetin-treated cells only.

Quercetin reduces inflammation by inhibiting the production of cytokines such as interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor through the inhibition of the promoter nuclear factor-kB.
Quercetin in mango

Antioxidant in mango

Bioactive compounds can protect against diseases via several mechanisms, but it is believed that the antioxidant activity is extremely important for protection against diseases related to oxidative stress.

Mango contains at least three classes of compounds, i.e ascorbic acid, carotenoids and phenolic components that can support the antioxidant defense in humans.

Antioxidants like phenolics and carotenoids can scavenge reactive oxygen species and protect against degenerative diseases like cancer, cardiovascular diseases.

The phenolics were assumed to be mainly gallic and ellagic acids and gallates. Mangoes are grate sources of betacarotene, quercetin and astragalin.

These are helpful antioxidants that neutralize freed radicals. Free radicals can damage cells and lead to heart disease, cancer, untimely aging and degenerative diseases.

The concentration of antioxidants varies greatly with genotypes and pre- and postharvest factors such as climatic conditions, agricultural practices, harvest maturity, ripening stage, storage and processing.
Antioxidant in mango

The Nutrition

The Nutrition
Mango is used as raw and ripe. Raw mango is rich source of pectin, oxalic, citric and succinct acids. It is a good source of vitamin C, B1 and B2 too.

The ripe fruit is very wholesome ad nourishing. The principal ingredient of mango is sugar. There are citric, malic and tartaric acids in a ripe mango that are beneficial to the body and help maintain the alkaline reserve of the body.

On the average, 100 grams of mango contains 81.0% moisture, 0.6% protein, 0.4% fat, 0.4% minerals, 0.7% fiber and 16.9% carbohydrates.

It provides 14 mg calcium, 16 mg phosphorus, 13 mg iron, 16.0 mg vitamin C and a small amount of vitamin B complex too.

Its calorie value is 74. The ripe mango nourishes the body by increasing gastric juice, blood, flesh, fat, bone marrow and semen. This fruit is also beneficial in liver disorders, loss of weight and other physical disturbances.

The latest research shows that mangoes has a potential to stop the growth of cancer cells. It was found that they were effective mostly against coon and breast cancer.

Researchers believe it’s the polyphenols in mangoes that are responsible for these exciting effects.
The Nutrition

Mango and health

Mango and health
Mango is sweet and sour, with a cooling energy. It is rich in amino acids, beta carotene, niacin, vitamin C and E, flavonoids, calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium. Mango also contains pectin, which is useful in lowering blood cholesterol levels.

The fruit is considered yin tonic, providing moistening fluids for the body and quenching thirst. It has alternative (blood purifying), antiseptic, diuretic, and laxative properties.

Mangoes have been used to treat anemia, bleeding gums, clogged pores, constipation, cough, cysts, fever, hypertension, indigestion, nausea, nephritis (kidney inflammation), respiratory ailments, seasickness and weak digestion.

They calm the emotions, benefit the brain, strengthen the heart and provide energy.

Some mango species do no turn red, yellow or orange, which means that with some varieties you are likely to buy them green and must look for other signs or ripeness. A ripe mango yields to the pressure of a fingertip and has a sweet fragrance.

Putting a mango in a paper bag in a warm place helps the ripening process. Avoid shriveled fruits with large, dark areas in their skin, as these are overripe.
Mango and health