Epidemiological data demonstrates a dramatic increase in the incidence of diabetes worldwide, especially in developed nations. Consumer trend is rapidly growing towards the use of natural products to aid in the mitigation of diseases. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia), a vegetable  native to Asian countries, has been traditionally used in the management of hyperglycemic conditions. In this study, bitter melon was used to isolated and characterize  the potential hyperglycemic agents. Freeze dried bitter melon seeds and fruits were extracted with various solvents and dried extracts were fractionated on rapid automated flash chromatography using silica gel column with gradient mobile phase i.e. hexane and acetone. The compounds were monitored at 210nm. Resulting fractions were subsequently analyzed by TLC, HPLC and LC-MS. Initial LC-MS data indicates the presence of various cucurbitane-type triterpenoids in bitter melons. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report employing the use of an automated flash chromatography system for the separation of cucurbitane-type compounds from bitter melon.  The present research is based on work supported by the �Designing Foods for Health� through USDA NIFA # 2010-34402-20875.

Separation of cucurbitane-type triterpenoids from bitter melon using flash chromatography

246th National Meeting (2013)

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