title: In vitro anti-diabetic activities and chemical analysis of polypeptide-k and oil isolated from seeds of Momordica charantia (bitter gourd).
abstract: The amino acid and fatty acid composition of polypeptide k and oil isolated from the seeds of Momordica charantia was analysed. The analysis revealed polypeptide k contained 9 out of 11 essential amino acids, among a total of 18 types of amino acids. Glutamic acid, aspartic acid, arginine and glycine were the most abundant (17.08%, 9.71%, 9.50% and 8.90% of total amino acids, respectively). Fatty acid analysis showed unusually high amounts of C18-0 (stearic acid, 62.31% of total fatty acid). C18-1 (oleic acid) and C18-2 (linoleic acid) were the other major fatty acid detected (12.53% and 10.40%, respectively). The oil was devoid of the short fatty acids (C4-0 to C8-0). Polypeptide k and oil were also subjected to in vitro α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibition assays. Both polypeptide k and seed oil showed potent inhibition of α-glucosidase enzyme (79.18% and 53.55% inhibition, respectively). α-Amylase was inhibited by 35.58% and 38.02%, respectively. Collectively, the in vitro assay strongly suggests that both polypeptide k and seed oil from Momordica charantia are potent potential hypoglycemic agents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang Selangor, Malaysia. zuraini@medic.upm.edu.my
authors.forename: Zuraini
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Khairul Faizi
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Zamhuri
authors.forename: Azhar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yaacob
authors.forename: Chiong Hoe
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Siong
authors.forename: Malarvili
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Selvarajah
authors.forename: Amin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nazrul Hakim
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D029777:Momordica charantia / Q000737:chemistry*; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D010455:Peptides; D010938:Plant Oils