Cucurbitane-Type Triterpenoids from the Stems of Momordica charantia

Abstract

Four new cucurbitane-type triterpenes, cucurbita-5,23(E)-diene-3beta,7beta,25-triol (1), 3beta-acetoxy-7beta-methoxycucurbita-5,23(E)-dien-25-ol (2), cucurbita-5(10),6,23(E)-triene-3beta,25-diol (5), and cucurbita-5,24-diene-3,7,23-trione (6), together with four known triterpenes, 3beta,25-dihydroxy-7beta-methoxycucurbita-5,23(E)-diene (3), 3beta-hydroxy-7beta,25-dimethoxycucurbita-5,23(E)-diene (4), 3beta,7beta,25-trihydroxycucurbita-5,23(E)-dien-19-al (7), and 25-methoxy-3beta,7beta-dihydroxycucurbita-5,23(E)-dien-19-al (8), were isolated from the methyl alcohol extract of the stems of Momordica charantia. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods.

Antioxidative properties of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) and zucchini<br>(Cucurbita pepo)

“…Bitter gourd and zucchini are known to contain a variety of biologically active compounds including the alkaloids momordicine I, momordicine II, and cucurbitacine B (Majekodunmi et al, 1990). Other compounds reported in these vegetables include a cytotoxic ribosome binding terpenoid and several glycosides including charantin, charantoside, and momordicoside (Begum et al, 1997;Harinantenaina et al, 2006;Akihisa et al, 2007;Chang et al, 2008;Dhiman et al, 2012). Glycosides are hydrolyzed by β-glucosidase enzymes (EC 3.2.1.21).…”

Sterols from the Stems of Momordica charantia

“…As part of our program aimed at the discovery of bioactive secondary metabolites from Taiwanese M. charantia, we had reported the isolation and structure elucidation of twenty-five cucurbitane-type triterpenoids from the MeOH extract of the stems of this plant. [18][19][20][21][22] In the continuing phytochemical investigation on M. charantia, we further identified one new ergostane sterol, 5a,6a-epoxy-3b-hydroxy-(22E,24R)-ergosta-8,22-dien-7-one (1), along with eight known sterols, 5a,6a-epoxy-(22E,24R)-ergosta-8,22-diene-3b,7a-diol (2), 23 5a,6a-epoxy-(22E,24R)-ergosta-8,22-diene-3b,7b-diol (3), 24 5a,6a-epoxy-(22E,24R)-ergosta-8(14),22-diene-3b,7a-diol (4), 23 3b-hydroxy-(22E,24R)-ergosta-5,8,22-trien-7-one (5), 25 ergosterol peroxide (6), 26 clerosterol (7), 27,28 decortinol (8), 27 and decortinone (9). 27 We describe in this paper the extraction, isolation, purification, and structure elucidation of compound 1 and the cytotoxic activity of compounds 1, 4, 5, 8, and 9.…”

Anti-proliferative and cytotoxic effects of methanol extract of the leaves of Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae) on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and HT-29 cell lines

“…Terpenes, a phytochemical present in M. charantia (Chang et al, 2008) have been reported to have antiproliferative effect (Akhisa et al, 2007). This suggests that terpenes contributed to the anti-proliferative effect of M. charantia observed on the cancer cell lines.…”