The effect of ultra-high pretreatment on free, esterified and insoluble-bound phenolics from mango leaves and their antioxidant and cytoprotective activities

•UHP significantly increased the content of mangiferin in phenolic compounds.•UHP remarkably increased extraction yield of different phenolic fractions (DPFs)•UHP significantly enhanced antioxidant and cytoprotective activities of DPFs. Ultra-high pressure (UHP) is a novel non-thermal pretreatment method in food processing for improving the extraction yield of polyphenols and functional properties. The present work investigated the phenolic profiles, antioxidant activities, and cytoprotective effects of the free, esterified, and insoluble-bound phenolic fractions from mango leaves before and after ultra-high pressure (UHP) treatment. UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS/MS analysis resulted in the identification of 42 phenolic compounds in the different phenolic forms. UHP pretreatment could significantly influence the contents of total phenols, total flavonoids and individual compounds in the different phenolic fractions (p