• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.597-604
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• 2020

This study examined the bioactive compound content and the antioxidant activities of bitter melon (Momordica charantia Linn.) leaves. The content of vitamin C, beta-carotene, and total carotenoids was 69.77, 45.68, and 65.08 mg/100 g, respectively. To investigate the antioxidant capacity, bitter melon leaves were extracted using various concentrations of ethanol (60, 80, or 100%). Highest content of total polyphenols (18.07 mg gallic acid equivalent/g) and flavonoids (4.53 mg cathechin equivalent/g) was found in the 100% ethanolic extract of the leaves (E100). Also, the E100 extract showed the highest levels of 2,2'azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and α-α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activities. Reducing power was also the highest (39.21 mg Trolox equivalent/g) in E100 extract. The E100 extract effectively inhibited lipid peroxidation by 91.45% compared to the control group. Also, the E100 extract showed a cytoprotective effect against oxidative stress in HepG2 cells and decreased the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species. These results suggest that bitter melon leaves could be regarded as a potential source of natural antioxidants.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.321-328
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• 2010

An efficient protocol for in vitro organogenesis was achieved from callus-derived immature and mature leaf explants of Momordica charantia, a very important vegetable and medicinal plant. Calluses were induced from immature leaf explants excised from in vitro (15-day-old seedlings) mature leaf explants of vivo plants (45 days old). The explants were grown on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with Gamborg (B5) vitamins containing 30 g $1^{-1}$ sucrose, 2.2 g $1^{-1}$ Gelrite, and 7.7 lM naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) with 2.2 ${\mu}M$ thidiazuron (TDZ). Regeneration of adventitious shoots from callus (30-40 shoots per explant) was achieved on MS medium containing 5.5 ${\mu}M$ TDZ, 2.2 ${\mu}M$ NAA, and 3.3 ${\mu}M$ silver nitrate ($AgNO_3$). The shoots (1.0 cm length) were excised from callus and elongated in MS medium fortified with 3.5 ${\mu}M$ gibberellic acid ($GA_3$). The elongated shoots were rooted in MS medium supplemented with 4.0 ${\mu}M$ indole 3-butyric acid (IBA). Rooted plants were acclimatized in the greenhouse and subsequently established in soil with a survival rate of 90%. This protocol yielded an average of 40 plants per leaf explant with a culture period of 98 days.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.537-548
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of 9 kinds of medicinal plants against crown gall in grapevine. The medicinal plants extracted with several solvent systems were screened for in vitro antibacterial activity by the disc diffusion method. The ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts from magic lily flowers, tachys roots, asian plantain flowers and seeds, sweet wormwood leaves, stems and flowers, immature bitter melon fruits, cockscomb flowers, and peach tree resin showed in vitro antimicrobial activities against Rhizobium vitis with growth inhibition zones ranging from 10 to 27 mm in diameter. The minimum inhibitory concentration values of extracts against R.vitis ranged from 10,000 in Asian plantain flower and 50,000 fold diluted extracts in sweet wormwood flowers, stems, leaves, cockscomb leaves and immature bitter melon fruits. The active fractions of ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts from the medicinal plants were partially separated through silica gel column chromatography and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The active fractions were separated at Rf 0.36, 0.69, 0.75, 0.84, and 0.94 in sweet wormwood extracts, Rf 0.96 and 0.99 in cockscomb flower extracts, Rf 0.92 and 0.97 in cockscomb leaf extracts, and Rf 0.85 in immature bitter melon fruit extracts in TLC analysis developed with hexane:ethyl acetate (20:80, v/v) and methanol:chloroform (20:80, v/v). Among extracts from plants with in vitro antimicrobial activities, sweet wormwood, cockscomb leaves, and immature bitter melon fruits showed in vivo antimicrobial activities with inhibition activity of 100, 67, and 83.3%, respectively, in 'Kyoho' grapevine inoculated with R. vitis compared with the untreated control. These findings indicate that extracts of medicinal plants could be used as sustainable candidates to control crown gall disease caused by R. vitis in grapevines.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.153-157
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• 2006

In 2005, average temperature was lower, and average rainfall was less than those of previous year. The diseases of rice, barley, pepper, chinese melon, apple and oriental pear were surveyed. Bacterial blight, bacterial grain rot, and panicle disease of rice, black rot of pear, and white rot and bitter rot of apple were severe. Especially, brown rot of rice occurred four times higher than those of previous year. Panicle blight of rice increased about 3 times, compared with the previous year, presumed that the higher rainy days, rainfall and RH promoted spread of the fungal pathogens to panicles of rice. The diseases of rice leaf blast, sudden wilt syndrome, downy mildew and powdery mildew of chinese melon in plastic greenhouse, and virus diseases of hot pepper occurred distinctly less than those of the previous year. Another diseases surveyed occurred similar or less.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.80-88
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• 2012

This study was conducted to clarify the antimicrobial effects and radical scavenging activities of the cosmetic compositions having the natural plant pigments, and to enhance the natural materials utilization of cosmetics. The antimicrobial activities of the fifteen kinds of cosmetic composition having natural plant pigments were evaluated using the agar diffusion method. Most of the cosmetic composition having the natural pigments showed the clear zone formation of growth inhibition against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Aspergillus flavus. Especially, purple sweet potato, bitter melon, mulberry leaf and gromwell showed the higher antimicrobial activities. All the cosmetic compositions were evaluated for their antioxidant activity using DPPH radical scavenging capacity and nitrite scavenging ability activity. Both of the free radical DPPH and nitrite scavenging ability was the highest in the cosmetic compositions of onion peel, and these antioxidant activity was significant differences according to different plant pigments. In this study, we conjectured that the plant pigment had the potent biological activities, therefore these plant resources having functional components could be a good materials for development into source of natural cosmetics.