Antioxidant activities of different wild bitter gourd (Momordica charantia l. var. abbreviata seringe) cultivars

Antioxidant activity assays were conducted using water (H) and methanolic (M) extracts of sixteen cultivars from indigenous wild bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L. var. abbreviata Seringe, MCA) in Taiwan. The scavenging activities against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radicals were different among MCA cultivars and the concentrations of 50% scavenging activity (IC50) for the effective cultivar was 181 μg/mL (H) and 246 μg/mL (M) in the former extract and 148 μg/mL (H) and 37 μg/mL (M) in the latter. For inhibitory activities against Cu²⁺-induced low-density-lipoprotein peroxidation, most MCA cultivars at 4000 μg/mL (especially for M extracts) showed protective activities and were equivalent to 0.8 mM Trolox by thiobarbituric acid reactive substance assays. These useful data may help promote the use and further research of MCA as an antioxidant in the health food industry.