Raw fruits contain a lot of antioxidants: bioflavonoids, vitamin C, vitamin A, etc. For most fruits, the color is green when raw like apples, pears, mango, etc.. Some fruits can be eaten even though they are not yet ripe like mangoes and guavas.
Chlorophyll is what makes the color of raw fruit green. When the fruit ripens, it turns into some other color and chlorophyll seems to disappear. It is transformed into what they call nonfluorescing chlorophyll catabolytes (NCC) which is a highly active antioxidant. It can be found in the peel and in the flesh nearest the peel
Therefore to get the most antioxidant power from fruits, it would be wise to eat the peel of some fruits like apples, pears and guavas. For mangoes and other fruits whose peel cannot be eaten, you can scrape the insides of the peel to get the flesh stuck in it for it contains a lot of antioxidants including NCCs.
source:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2007, November 10). Ripe Fruit Contains Highly Active Antioxidants. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2007/11/071106095637.htm
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