Antioxidant and sun screening activity of Mangifera zeylanica bark extracts

Mangifera zeylanica is an indigenous plant in Sri Lanka with a rich history in traditional medicine. The bark of this plant, collected from two distinct regions of the country, has been explored in this study for its potential as a source of antioxidants and sun protection agents. Methanolic and aqueous extracts, and their separated fractions obtained from column chromatographic separation, were investigated. Phytochemical analysis of the extracts revealed the presence of flavonoids and polyphenols. Methanolic inner bark extracts collected from two regions and aqueous extract of inner bark collected from Rambukkana exhibited lower IC₅₀ values of 7.378, 17.56 and 16.82 μg/mL while the separated fraction 01 of methanolic inner bark extracts of Galle and Rambukkana have also shown lower IC₅₀ values of 11.71 and 13.00 μg/mL showing their potent antioxidant activity. Moreover, the methanolic inner bark extracts of Galle and Rambukkana exhibited a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 30.97 ± 0.11 and 29.88 ± 0.02 at the concentration of 1024 μg/mL. Among the separated fractions, fraction 01 of these extracts possessed the highest Sun Protection Factors of 30.19 ± 1.35 and 30.63 ± 0.19. The findings suggest that chemical compounds separated into fraction 01 are responsible for their sun protection activity and antioxidant activity. These findings underline the potential of fraction 01 methanolic extracts of M. zeylanica bark extracts as valuable sources of antioxidants and sun protection agents.