Lipid profile and haematological indices of Wistar albino rats fed naturally riped, unripe and artificially riped mango pulp formulated diets were investigated. Artificially riped mangoes were obtained by wrapping with dark polyethylene bag and others by treatment with calcium carbide and hot water. After inducing ripening, the mango samples were air-dried, ground and used to formulate the 10%, 20%, 30% diets fed to rats for 28 days. Results obtained indicated that at 10% level of incorporation, there was no significant difference in high density lipoprotein concentration in all the groups which ranged from 69.5±3.29mg/dl in calcium carbide group to 72.4±0.87mg/dl in the control group. At 20% and 30% levels of incorporation no significant difference in high density lipoprotein was obtained between the controls, unripe the polybag and hot water riped groups but each was significantly higher than values obtained for calcium carbide group. At 10% level of incorporation low density lipoprotein was highest in polybag group (88.60±5.95mg/dl) followed by calcium carbide group (88.67±5.95mg/dl) but was lowest in the control group (78.37±3.75mg/dl), whereas at 20% and 30% levels of incorporation, no consistent pattern was observed. At 10, 20 and 30% levels of incorporation of samples into the formulated diets, White blood cell count increased while Red blood cell count and haemoglobin concentration decreased in the artificially riped groups compared to the control. Generally, the values of lipid parameters and haematological indices suggest that artificial ripening especially by the use of carbide may not be a good candidate in the ripening of mango fruits.

Biochemical parameters, activity levels of marker enzymes and serum electrolytes of Wistar albino rats fed naturally ripe (control), unripe and artificially ripened mango pulp formulated diets were investigated. Ripe and unripe fruits were collected and used for the study and artificially ripened mangoes were obtained by wrapping unripe fruits with dark polyethylene bag; treatment with calcium carbide and by dipping into hot water. After ripening, the mango samples were air-dried, pulverized and used to formulate the 10%, 20%, 30% diets fed to rats for 28 days and their plasma collected for biochemical investigations. At 10% level of incorporation, plasma protein concentration in the control (65.63±0.12 mg/dl) was significantly higher (p< 0.05) than values for unripe groups (55.50±1.91 mg/dl) and calcium carbide (56.97±1.27 mg/dl) while Albumin concentration was highest in the unripe (41.33±3.58 mg/dl) but lowest in the calcium carbide (33.50±0.69 mg/dl) but at 20 and 30% levels, no significant difference was observed for both parameters. Billirubin was significantly higher in the calcium carbide groups but lowest in the control groups at all levels of incorporation while Creatinine and Urea revealed no significant difference at all levels. Marker enzyme assay showed significant variations only in the concentrations of Alkaline phosphatase and Gamma glutamyl transterase at the 30% level of incorporation only. Electrolyte assay revealed that at 30% level of incorporation, significantly lower levels of potassium were observed in the calcium carbide (3.43±0.06 mg/dl) group compared to the control (3.80±0.17 mg/dl).Thus, artificial ripening of fruits may adversely affect Biochemical parameters, activity levels of marker enzymes and serum electrolytes.

Phytochemical and vitamin contents of ripe, unripe as well as unripe mango (Mangifera indica) fruits subjected to different ripening methods (use of dark polybag, calcium carbide and hot water) were investigated. The Phytochemicals namely carotenoids, phenols, terpenes, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, phytosterols, flavonoids and glycosides were quantified. Natural ripening (control) increased carotenoids (6.53±0.02mg/100g to 11.46±0.04mg/100g), phenols (15.13±0.02 mg/100g to 25.27±0.02 mg/100g), terpenes (0.08±0.02 mg/100g to 1.77±0.02 mg/100g) but decreased alk aloids (0.61±0.00 mg/100g to 0.53±0.02 mg/100g), tannins (2.06±0.02 mg/100g to 1.08±0.02 mg/100g) and flavonoids (56.80±0.01 mg/100g to 35.88±0.02 mg/100g) among others. Among the naturally ripe (control), unripe and artificially ripened mango fruits, there were no significant differences (p<0.05) in vitamins A, B1, B2, and B3. No significant difference (p<0.05) was obtained in the values of B6 for the naturally and artificially ripened mangoes which ranged from 0.20±0.01 mg/100g in calcium carbide group to 0.28±0.06 mg/100g in hot water group, but each was significantly higher than the value for the unripe mango group (0.13±0.02 mg/100g) The levels of vitamin C (mg/100g) was highest in the unripe fruits (51.06±0.05 mg/100g) followed by hot water treated fruits (50.06±0.05 mg/100g) which did not differ significantly (p<0.05) from the values for polybag treated fruits (49.54±0.19 mg/100g) but each was significantly higher than the value for the naturally ripe fruits (30.90±0.14 mg/100g). In general, it may be concluded that artificial ripening methods increased the phytochemical constituents and vitamin levels in the fruits investigated.