CHARACTERIZATIONS OF MAJOR ANTIOXIDANTS AT HARVEST-MATURITY AND EDIBLE-RIPENING STAGES OF THREE MANGO (MANGIFERA INDICA L.) CULTIVARS

The contents and their dynamic arrangements of six antioxidants and total antioxidant capacity in the three mango (Mangifera indica L.) cultivars, ‘Tainong No.1’ (‘Haden’ × ‘Irwin’), ‘Yuexi No.1’ (the progeny of ‘Carabao’) and ‘Chunhuang’ (‘White’ × ‘Keitt’), were estimated at fruit harvest-maturity (harvesting stage) and edible-ripening stages in South China. The results showed that, both at fruit harvesting and edible-ripening stages, total carotenoid contents and total antioxidant capacity were in the order: ‘Yuexi No.1’>‘Tainong No.1’>‘Chunhuang’; the ascorbic acid (AA) content was ‘Tainong No.1’>‘Yuexi No.1’>‘Chunhuang’; total polyphenol content was ‘Yuexi No.1’>‘Chunhuang’>‘Tainong No.1’; reduced glutathione (GSH) content was ‘Tainong No.1’>‘Chunhuang’>‘Yuexi No.1’. At fruit harvesting stage, total flavonoid content was ‘Tainong No.1’>‘Chunhuang’>‘Yuexi No.1’ and α-tocopherol content was ‘Yuexi No.1’>‘Tainong No.1’>‘Chunhuang’. And at fruit edible-ripening stage, total flavonoid content was ‘Yuexi No.1’>‘Tainong No.1’>‘Chunhuang’ and α-tocopherol content was ‘Tainong No.1’>‘Yuexi No.1’>‘Chunhuang’. In addition, total flavonoid content at edible-ripening stage was significantly higher than that at harvesting stage in each cultivar, and ‘Yuexi No.1’ possessed a conspicuous high level at this stage.