THE EFFICACY OF CUCURBITANE TYPE TRITERPENOIDS, GLYCOSIDES AND PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS ISOLATED FROM MOMORDICA CHARANTIA: A REVIEW

Momordica charantia Linn. which has been used mainly for edible purposes at different countries of the world including South East Asia and has also been extensively used in traditional medicines for the cure of various ailments. M. charantia belongs to the cucurbitaceae family. Extensive research has been carried out on the fruit, leaves, and seeds of the plant. Most importantly, all these research works have shown its efficacy on various cancer cell lines like lymphoid leukemia, lymphoma, choriocarcinoma, melanoma, breast cancer, skin tumor, prostatic cancer, squamous carcinoma of tongue and larynx, human bladder carcinomas and  on Hodgkin’s disease. Clinical reports of some research on the use of M. charantia in diabetes and cancer patients showed promising results. The main active constituents of M. charantia are cucurbitane type triterpenoids which have some potent biological and pharmacological activities including antidiabetic, anti-obesity, anticancer, anti-HIV, anti-feedant and anti-oviposition activities. Since in the early 1960’s the constituents of M. charantia have been investigated and several classes of secondary metabolites including cucurbitane-type triterpenoids, glycosides and phenolic compounds have been isolated and their structures were determined. This review summarizes the previous and current information regarding phytochemical constituents of M. charantia and their pharmacological effects that provide the scope for future research in this aspect.