+Model FSHW-40; No. of Pages 11 ARTICLE IN PRESS HOSTED BY Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Food Science and Human Wellness xxx (2014) xxx–xxx Food prospects and nutraceutical attributes of Momordica species: A potential tropical bioresources – A review ∗ Gunasekaran Nagarani, Arumugam Abirami, Perumal Siddhuraju Bioresource Technology Lab, Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India Received 25 February 2014; received in revised form 27 June 2014; accepted 3 July 2014 Abstract Plants with potential therapeutic values have been used from time immemorial to cure various ailments and infectious diseases. Of late, scientific evidences have been provided on the potential therapeutic agent exhibited by certain traditionally used vegetable extracts. The importance of wild edible plants may be traced to antiquity but systemic studies are recent. All the Momordica species have been consumed as vegetable and traditionally used for various disorders. The whole plant parts are ascribed to possess the anti-diabetic effect in traditional medicinal system. The active constituents of Momordica plant parts were cucurbitane type triterpenoids, phenolics, glycosides, and several kinds of peptides including Momordica anti-HIV protein (MAP 30). Recent reports revealed the presence of several kinds of cucurbitane type triterpenoids in leaf, stem and fruits of Momordica species having several pharmacological activities. There is lack of scientific information available on the wild species which also having several bioactive components with potential activities. So the present review compares and highlights the current knowledge of the nutritional value, phytochemistry and physiological effects of wild species with known variety. © 2014 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Momordica spp.; Anti-diabetic; Triterpenoids; Momordica anti-HIV protein (MAP-30 protein) Contents 1. Introduction . 00 2. Biogeography and botanical description . 00 3. Nutritional values . 00 4. Bioactive compounds . 00 4.1. Phenolics compounds . 00 4.2. Carotenoids . 00 4.3. Cucurbitane type triterpenoids . 00 4.4. Phytosterols . 00 5. Effect of physiological bioactivities of Momordica species on human health . 00 5.1. Anti-diabetic activity . 00 5.2. Anti-cancer activity . 00 5.3. Antioxidant activity . 00 5.4. Anti-microbial activity. 00 5.5. Other medicinal effects . 00 6. Conclusions . 00 Acknowledgment . 00 References . 00 ∗ Corresponding author at:. Tel.: +91 422 2428394; fax: +91 422 2422387. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (P. Siddhuraju). Peer review under responsibility of Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. 2213-4530 © 2014 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2014.07.001 Please cite this article in press as: G. Nagarani, et al., Food prospects and nutraceutical attributes of Momordica species: A potential tropical bioresources – A review, Food Sci. Hum. Wellness (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2014.07.001 +Model FSHW-40; No. of Pages 11 ARTICLE IN PRESS 2 G. Nagarani et al. / Food Science and Human Wellness xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 1. Introduction M. balsamina is restricted to the arid belt zones such as Rajasthan and Gujarat, while M. cymbalaria is distributed in Andhra Momordica species are vegetable crops, belonging to the Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. M. family of Cucurbitaceae (also commonly referred as cucumber, sahyadrica is a recently described species [9] and is endemic gourd, melon or pumpkin family), which comprise of medium to the Western Ghats of India. In general, these plants are com- sized plants that grow abundantly in warmer regions of the world. monly annuals or perennials. Leaves are entire or deeply lobed They are well-known for the bitter taste due to the presence of (3–7). Flowers are monoecious or dioecious, solitary/pseudo phytochemicals (alkaloid) and have a wide range of medicinal raceme, medium to big size, with foliaceous bracts, corolla values. Although the exact origin of Momordica genus is unclear, creamish yellow to bright yellow color, green to pale green most experts agree that the center of bitter gourd domestication stigma (in monoecious species) or yellow (in dioecious species). lies in eastern Asia, possibly eastern India or southern China Fruits are medium to big sized (5–800 g), fleshy, green when [1,2]. However, in Ayurvedic texts written by members of the unripe and orange red when ripe, ovoid oblongoid, ornamented Indo-Aryan culture, it is stated to be emerged in India from 2000 with soft spines, warts or tubercles, splits from base into three to 200 BCE [3]. Consumption of Momordica species as vegeta- valves. Seeds are enclosed in orange red sarcotesta (aril), and bles is mainly concentrated in Africa and Asian countries. The sculptured, margins often undulate and dentate [10]. fruits are usually parboiled or soaked in salt water before cooking to reduce the bitter taste [4]. The Momordica species have been used in indigenous medical systems in various countries 3. Nutritional values in Asia and Africa. Based on the indigenous knowledge, wild plant foods play a vital role in the complex cultural system of The mature green fruit of the Momordica species is the most tribal people for reducing various disorders. Research has shown commonly consumed portion of the plant, although the tender that many edible wild plants are rich in specific constituents, leaves of M. balsamina can be cooked as a leafy vegetable pro- referred as phytochemicals, which may have health promoting viding an important source of nutrients [11]. These green fruits effects. The major plant-derived chemical groups in this fam- and leaves are a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, vita- ily now recognized as having potential health promoting effects mins and minerals (Table 1). The protein content of this species in Type I and Type II diabetes are cucurbitane triterpenoids, makes it a good source of essential amino acids (Table 2) such saponin glycosides and Momordica anti-HIV protein (MAP 30 as methionine, phenylalanine, alanine, serine, cystine and thre- protein). These phytochemicals may be incorporated into food onine compared to other vegetables and traditional protein-rich stuffs or food supplements as nutraceuticals. The green fruits legumes [4]. Differences in the agro-climatic conditions may and leaves of Momordica species play a major role in improving account for the variation in the protein contents in this species. human health by offering nutritional and nutraceutical compo- Hassan and Umar [11] have studied the nutritional values of M. nents. Therefore the present review mainly focuses on providing balsamina leaves. In comparison with other species, M. balsam- baseline information on exploring nutritional and nutraceutical ina leaves have more dietary fiber (29%) and mineral contents properties of some wild plant species along with cultivated vari- (Table 1) while Momordica fruits have moderate content of ety of Momordica species such as M. charantia, M. balsamina dietary fiber, which helps to lower the blood cholesterol. M. (Linn), M. dioica (Roxb), M. cochinchinensis (Spreng), and M. balsamina leaves are labeled as a heart protective leafy veg- tuberosa or cymbalaria. Fig. 1 shows the green fruits of five dif- etable because of its high content of potassium (1320 mg/100 g) ferent species in this genus. This study highlights the potential that helps to maintain normal blood pressure and other cardio- of Momordica species as an important source of both nutritional vascular conditions [12]. The trace element, zinc, has also been and bioactive compounds. In addition, this study also supports reported in fruits and leaves of Momordica species (Table 1). the inclusion of these wild species into the main food stream of the local population, improving their nutritional status. 4. Bioactive compounds 2. Biogeography and botanical description Momordica plant parts are characterized by a wide diver- Based on both historical literature [1,2,5], and recent anal- sity of bioactive compounds such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, ysis of random amplified polymorphic DNA [6], inter simple carotenoids cucurbitane triterpenoids, and phytosterols. The sequence repeats [7] and amplified fragment length polymor- potential health benefits of phytochemicals found in Momordica phisms [8] molecular analyses, eastern India (including the states species have received ample attention in the recent literature, of Orissa, West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand and Bihar) may be focusing especially on compounds with high antidiabetic, antitu- considered as the primary center of the diversity of bitter gourd, mor and antioxidant properties. In particular, some of the actual where a wild feral form, M. charantia varieties also exists. trends of the scientific research are strongly focused on obtaining M. dioica and M. charantia are ubiquitous in distribution over in vitro evidence for the biological efficacy of individual con- India except in north-east region, whereas M. subangulata ssp. stituents such as triterpenoids, carotenoids and phenolics from Renigera is restricted to north-east and adjoining north Ben- different parts of Momordica spp. Around 228 different com- gal hills. M. cochinchinensis is distributed in Andaman and a pounds were identified from different parts