Pectin-like polysaccharide extracted from Cucumis melo pulp: physicochemical, antioxidant, and skin hydration efficacy

Cucumis melo (currently accepted name of Luffa cylindrica) is a Cucurbitaceae vegetable with several biological activities. Polysaccharides from the fruit of C. melo were extracted and evaluated, producing a high extractive yield (17.20 ± 0.65%). The following physicochemical properties were provided: solubility and swelling capacity (99.51 ± 0.07% and 2.00 ± 0.00%, respectively), with a pH of 6.47 ± 0.02. The total polysaccharide content consisted of 0.23 ± 0.01 mg glucose/mg extract, while the total phenolic content was 19.99 ± 0.12 mg GAE/g extract, posing antioxidant activity on DPPH at IC50 of 214.38 ± 6.96 µg/mL. It was assumed from FT-IR that the extract consisted of pectin-like polysaccharides and other water-soluble polysaccharides. An in vivo study involving 20 volunteers showed that it did not cause skin irritation. A single application of the polysaccharide extract solutions (1.0 and 5.0% w/v) showed significantly greater short-term skin hydrating efficacy than the benchmark (p < 0.05), especially after 210 min, indicating its potential as a skin moisturising ingredient for cosmetics.