Antioxidant and longevity inducing properties of coconut water on human dermal fibroblasts

Coconut water is a popular drink in tropical countries and worldwide due to its delicious taste, easy consumption and nutritionally rich properties. Our study aimed to identify bioactive compounds of coconut varieties and their antioxidant as well as longevity effects in 2 different groups of coconuts. These include the bleeding coconut varieties, which are currently most available in the market, namely the Ban Phaeo and Ratchaburi coconut varieties, and the traditional coconut varieties, including Kon-jib and Sampran coconut varieties. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) was used to profile the metabolites in coconut water which revealed 27 metabolites including sugar, organic acids, fatty acids, flavonoids and phenolic compounds. A multivariate data analysis demonstrated an organic acid and phenolic metabolites as the antioxidant bioactive metabolites in coconut water. In addition, the coconut varieties had higher antioxidant bioactive metabolites compared to traditional coconut varieties, while traditional coconut varieties had higher sugar levels. Furthermore, the varieties containing higher antioxidants bioactive metabolites were chosen to examine the longevity effect on human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). The results revealed that coconut water can significantly decrease cytosolic oxidation in hydrogen peroxide treated HDFs cell line and mediated longevity of fibroblast cells by modulating the expression of proteins in longevity pathway. Data from our study indicate that coconut water serves as source of antioxidants which can be mediated longevity of dermal cell. Moreover, this study provides the useful information for the coconut water production and distribution business.