Warasan Witthayasat Lae Theknoloyi Mahawitthayalai Mahasarakham (Dec 2019)
Anti-lipid peroxidation and antioxidant activities of aqueous extract of edible parts of Momordica cochinchinensis Lour. (Spreng.)
Abstract
Momordica cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng. (MC) is a plant found in China, Vietnam, and Thailand, with edible leaves and fruit. With little information available on the anti-lipid peroxidation activity of this species, the present study investigated the activity of aqueous and freshly squeezed extracts of its young leaves and stems, and fruit (unripe pulps, ripe pulps, or aril). Fresh plant material was extracted using methods appropriate for each part including blanched, boiled, or freshly-squeezed, resulting in six extracts, (1) blanched young leaves and stems (BYLS), (2) boiled unripe pulps, (3) boiled ripe pulps, (4) freshly squeezed ripe pulps, (5) boiled aril, and (6) freshly squeezed aril. The extracts were tested with lipid from homogenized hen’s egg yolk, and malondialdehyde levels were measured using the thiobarbituric acid reaction substance (TBARS) assay. Antioxidant activity was also measured using the 2,2’-azinobis-(3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) assay. BYLS was found to have superior anti-lipid peroxidation activity to the other extracts, with IC50 and vitamin C equivalent antioxidant capacity (VCEAC) values of 335.87±92.95 µg/mL and 64.03 g/100 g extract, respectively. In the ABTS assay, BYLS also demonstrated the highest level of antioxidant activity, with IC50 and VCEAC values of 30.91±5.81 µg/mL and 5.21 g/100 g extract, respectively. These results are the first report of the anti-lipid peroxidation activity of BYLS that was greater than the aril and fruit extracts. The potential effects of BYLS in preventing diseases caused by oxidative stress therefore merits further study.
