Cucurbitane-type triterpenoids are a major class of bioactive compounds present in bitter melon. In the present study, six different cultivars of bitter melon were extracted by using microwave- or ultrasound-assisted techniques to identify the prominent method that can extract the majority of cucurbitane-type triterpenoids. A UHPLC-MS/MS (ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry) system was used for the identification and quantification of ten cucurbitane-type triterpenoids. The results suggest that the use of microwave-assisted extraction on cultivars 4 and 5 produced higher amounts of the selected cucurbitane-type triterpenoids. The interpretation of principal component analysis also identified that cultivar 4 is significantly different from the others in which the compounds 3β,7β,25-trihydroxycucurbita-5,23(E)-dien-19-al and momordicine I were found in higher quantities. Upon further evaluation, it was also identified that these two triterpenoids can act as antiproliferative agents due to their effects on SAS human oral cancer cell lines.
Keywords: 3β,7β,25-trihydroxycucurbita-5,23(E)-dien-19-al; Momordica charantia L.; SAS cell lines; UHPLC–MS/MS; microwave-assisted extraction; momordicine I.