JFS C: Food Chemistry and Toxicology Total Phenolic Contents and Phenolic Acid Constituents in 4 Varieties of Bitter Melons (Momordica charantia) and Antioxidant Activities of their Extracts RONNY HORAX, NAVAM HETTIARACHCHY, AND SHAHIDUL ISLAM ABSTRACT: Four varieties of bitter melon (Momordica charantia), India green (IG), India white (IW), China green (CG), and China white (CW) were analyzed for total phenolics, phenolic acid constituents, and antioxidant activities of their methanolic extracts. Phenolic contents of the oven-dried and freeze-dried tissues ranged from 5.39 to 8.94 and 4.64 to 8.90 mg chlorogenic acid equivalent (CAE)/g on dry weight basis, respectively. Phenolic contents of bitter melon seed, inner tissues, and flesh ranged from 4.67 to 8.02, 4.64 to 8.94, and 5.36 to 8.90 mg CAE/g, respectively. The total phenolic contents of IG, IW, CG, and CW were 4.64 to 6.84, 6.03 to 8.94, 5.39 to 7.81, and 6.07 to 8.90 mg CAE/g, respectively. The main phenolic acids in flesh were gallic acid, gentisic acid, catechin, C: Food Chemistry & Toxicology chlorogenic acid, and epicatechin, which ranged from 8.04 to 39.76, 16.99 to 32.39, 23.06 to 82.45, 4.55 to 15.83, and 16.14 to 44.28 mg/100 g on dry weight basis, respectively, while in inner tissues were gallic acid, gentisic acid, catechin, and epicatechin, which ranged from 2.57 to 18.05, 5.39 to 32.61, 13.54 to 39.74, and 2.96 to 40.91 mg/ 100 g, respectively. The main phenolic acids contained in seeds were gallic acid, catechin, and epicatechin, which ranged from 4.61 to 18.9, 13.2 to 57.61, and 6.00 to 40.08 mg/100 g, respectively. There was no significant difference in the antioxidant activities of the extracts among varieties (P = 0.2556) and between drying methods (P = 0.1444). The antioxidant activities of flesh, inner tissue, and seed ranged from 81.7% to 86.5%, 78.8% to 88.4%, and 78.5% to 85.4% inhibition, respectively. Bitter melon is a rich source of phenolic compounds. These natural plant phenolics can be a good source of antioxidants for application in food system. Keywords: bitter melon, phenolics, extract, antioxidant Introduction Many preservatives are added to foods as antioxidant agents. Phe- lants contain a large variety of phenolic derivatives including nolic compounds are known to possess this property. Antioxidants Psimple phenols, benzoic acid derivatives, flavonoids, phenyl- markedly delay or prevent oxidation of the substrate, when they are propanoids, tannins, lignans, and lignins. These various substanc- present in foods or in the body at low concentrations. Furthermore, es are essential for the growth and reproduction of plants as well as beneficial effects of consuming plant foods that have been ascribed contribute to plant tissue’s defense mechanism against infections to the presence of phenolics are achieved by preventing lipid oxida- or injuries caused by insects and microbial pathogens and environ- tion, protein cross-linking, and DNA mutation and tissue damage. mental stresses such as UV irradiation, fungicide treatment, tem- Antioxidants can be classified as free radical terminators, chelators of perature, or air pollution (Beier and Oertli 1983; Dercks and others metal ions, or oxygen scavengers that react with oxygen in closed sys- 1990; Babic and others 1993; Friedman 1997; Nigg and others 1997). tem. Phenolic antioxidants are included in the category of free radical Many properties of plant products are associated with the presence, terminators. Synthetic food antioxidants currently permitted for use type, and content of their phenolic compounds. The beneficial health in foods are butylated hydroxytoluene, butylated hydroxyanisole, effects of certain phenolics are significant to producers and consumers propyl gallate, dodecyl gallate, and tertiary butylhydroquinone. How- of foods. Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of phenolics. Many ever, people are concerned to consume foods that contain synthetic studies showed that these phenolic compounds exhibit health-promot- compounds as ingredients. Natural antioxidants are primarily plant ing effects such as reducing blood pressure and lowering incidences of phenolics and polyphenolic compounds that may occur in all parts of cancer and cardiovascular diseases (Huang and Ferraro 1992; Tanaka the plant. Exploration of natural phenolic compounds from plants is and others 1993; Balentine and others 1997; Bravo 1998; Surh 1999; an alternative to replace synthetic antioxidants to maintain the quality Gorinstein and other 2002; Wang and Mazza 2002; Hannum 2004). How- of the foods from oxidative deterioration. ever, published data on the content of phenolics in fruit and vegetables Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) or bitter gourd is an impor- are still incomplete and restrictive to a few cultivars. tant cultivated food crop and widely used as vegetable in Asia. Fruit pulp, seed, and whole plant of bitter gourd have been investigat- ed for their hypoglycemic effects (Ali and others 1993; Srivastava MS 20040607 Submitted 9/8/04, Revised 10/20/04, Accepted 1/3/05. Authors Horax and Hettiarachchy are with Dept. of Food Science, Univ. of Arkan- and others 1993; Jayasooriya and others 2000). Bitter melon also has sas, 2650 North Young Ave., Fayetteville, AR 72704. Author Islam is with been reported to have other medicinal properties such as anticar- Dept. of Agriculture, Univ. of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Ark. Direct inquiries to cinogenic and hypocholesterolemic (Ganguly and others 2000; author Hettiarachchy (E-mail: [email protected]). Ahmed and others 2001). Like many plants, bitter melon may be a © 2005 Institute of Food Technologists Vol. 70, Nr. 4, 2005—JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE C275 Further reproduction without permission is prohibited Published on Web 4/28/2005 Phenolic acids of bitter melon . source of phenolic compounds. Although the value of bitter melon to cool at room temperature. To 1 mL of the clear solution in a screw-cap is realized, information on its phenolic constituents is limited. More test tube, 1.0 mL of 0.25 N Folin-Ciocalteau’s reagent, 1.0 mL of 1 N detailed investigation on bitter melon phenolics is needed to pro- sodium carbonate, and 7 mL of deionized water were added. The vide information for their nutraceutical values. tubes were vortexed and held for 2 h at room temperature. Absorption The objectives of this research were to determine the total phe- of the solution at 726 nm was measured using a spectrophotometer nolic contents and phenolic acid constituents of bitter melon tis- (Shimadzu Model UV-1601, Kyoto, Japan). The total phenolic content sues from 4 varieties and evaluate the antioxidant activities of their was expressed as chlorogenic acid equivalents (CAE) in milligram per phenolic extracts. gram dry material and calculated as follows: total phenolics (mg/g dry weight) = (A × 222.57)/10, where A was absorbance at 726 nm. Materials and Methods Methanolic extraction of phenolics Materials Phenolics of the fine ground flesh, inner tissue, and seed of the C: Food Chemistry & Toxicology Four varieties of bitter melon, India white, India green, China white, bitter melon samples were extracted by methanol. Five hundred and China green, were provided by the Univ. of Arkansas at Pine Bluff milligrams of the fine ground sample were weighed into a test tube (Pine Bluff, Ark., U.S.A.). Fourteen standard phenolic acids were used for and 5 mL methanol was added. The tube was then heated for 2 h in phenolic acid constituent determination using HPLC. Eleven phenolic a 65°C water bath. During heating, the dispersion was vortexed acids including gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, gentistic acid, (+)-cat- every 30 min. After extraction, the dispersion was cooled at room echin, vanillic acid, syringic acid, (–)-epicatchin, p-coumaric acid, ben- temperature and centrifuged (centrifuge model J2-21, Beckman, zoic acid, sinapinic acid, and o-coumaric acid were purchased from Sig- Fullerton, Calif., U.S.A.) at 3000 × g for 10 min. The residue was ma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A.). Chlorogenic acid, t-cinnamic rinsed with 1 mL methanol, and the clear solution was combined acid, and t-ferulic acid (trans-4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid) were with the previous supernatant. The combined methanolic extract purchased from Aldrich Chemical Co. (Milwaukee, Wis., U.S.A.). Triflu- was then evaporated to dryness under a stream of nitrogen at 60°C. oroacetic acid, methanol, acetonitrile, and water used for high-perfor- The dried methanolic extract was stored at 4°C for analysis. mance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis were HPLC grade. Phenolic acid constituent determination Sample preparation The phenolic acid constituents of the methanolic extracts were Flesh, seed coat tissue or inner tissue (IT), and seed (Figure 1) of determined using HPLC by the method of Cai and others (2003) with bitter melons var. India white, India green, China white, and Chi- some modification. Twenty milligrams of the extracts were dissolved na green were separated soon after the samples were received. The in 0.2 mL of methanol, and the solution was filtered through a 0.2-␮m flesh was chopped into approximately 1 to 2 mm thickness using a PVDF Target Syringe Filter (Natl. Scientific, Duluth, Ga., U.S.A.). Phe- food processor (Model FP1200, The Black & Decker Corp., Towson, nolics were quantified by a Hewlett-Packard Liquid Chromatograph Md., U.S.A.). The separated tissues were then dried in either a model 1090 equipped with UV detector (Agilent Technologies, Inc., freeze-drier (Model 25LE, The Virtis Co., Inc., Gardiner, N.Y., U.S.A.) Palo Alto, Calif., U.S.A.), and absorbance was monitored at 254 nm. A or an oven (at 60°C for 18 h, about 1 to 1.5 cm thickness of layer on TSK-GEL Super-ODS (Supelco, Bellefonte, Pa., U.S.A.) column was a stainless steel tray), ground using a coffee grinder model KSM 2B used.