Generic placeholder image

Current Pharmaceutical Design

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1381-6128
ISSN (Online): 1873-4286

Review Article

Phytochemistry, Pharmacological Activities, Toxicity and Clinical Application of Momordica cochinchinensis

Author(s): Hai-Yue Lan, Bin Zhao, Yu-Li Shen, Xiao-Qin Li, Su-Juan Wang*, Li-Jun Zhang* and Hong Zhang*

Volume 25, Issue 6, 2019

Page: [715 - 728] Pages: 14

DOI: 10.2174/1381612825666190329123436

Price: $65

Abstract

Momordica cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng (M. cochinchinensis) is a deciduous vine that grows in Southeast Asia. It is known as gac in Vietnam and as Red Melon in English. Gac is reputed to be extremely benificial for health and has been widely used as food and folk medicine in Southeast Asia. In China, the seed of M. cochinchinensis (Chinese name: Mu biezi) is used as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for the treatment of various diseases. More than 60 chemical constituents have been isolated from M. cochinchinensis. Modern pharmacological studies and clinical practice demonstrate that some chemical constituents of M. cochinchinensis possess wide pharmacological activities, such as anti-tumor, anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, etc. This paper reviews the phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, toxicity, and clinical application of M. cochinchinensis, aiming to bring new insights into further research and application of this ancient herb.

Keywords: Momordica cochinchinensis, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, toxicity, clinical application, ancient herb.

[1]
Wimalasiri D, Piva T, Urban S, Huynh T. Morphological and genetic diversity of Momordica cochinchinenesis (Cucurbitaceae) in Vietnam and Thailand. Genet Resour Crop Evol 2016; 63: 1-15.
[2]
Mai HC, Truong V, Debaste F. Carotenoids concentration of Gac (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng.) fruit oil using cross-flow filtration technology. J Food Sci 2014; 79(11): E2222-31.
[3]
Ishida BK, Turner C, Chapman MH, McKeon TA. Fatty acid and carotenoid composition of gac (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng) fruit. J Agric Food Chem 2004; 52(2): 274-9.
[4]
Shen Y, Meng L, Sun H, Zhu Y, Liu H. Cochinchina momordica seed suppresses proliferation and metastasis in human lung cancer cells by regulating multiple molecular targets. Am J Chin Med 2015; 43(1): 149-66.
[5]
Wong KL, Wong RN, Zhang L, et al. Bioactive proteins and peptides isolated from Chinese medicines with pharmaceutical potential. Chin Med 2014; 9: 19.
[6]
Zheng L, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Yang XO, Zhan Y. Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng. seed extract suppresses breast cancer growth by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Mol Med Rep 2015; 12(4): 6300-10.
[7]
Petchsak P, Sripanidkulchai B. Momordica cochinchinensis Aril Extract Induced Apoptosis in Human MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 2015; 16(13): 5507-13.
[8]
Zheng L, Zhang YM, Zhan YZ, Liu CX. Momordica cochinchinensis seed extracts suppress migration and invasion of human breast cancer ZR-75-30 cells via down-regulating MMP-2 and MMP-9. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 2014; 15(3): 1105-10.
[9]
Liu HR, Meng LY, Lin ZY, Shen Y, Yu YQ, Zhu YZ. Cochinchina momordica seed extract induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in human gastric cancer cells via PARP and p53 signal pathways. Nutr Cancer 2012; 64(7): 1070-7.
[10]
Yu JS, Kim JH, Lee S, Jung K, Kim KH, Cho JY. Src/Syk-Targeted Anti-Inflammatory Actions of Triterpenoidal Saponins from Gac (Momordica cochinchinensis) Seeds. Am J Chin Med 2017; 45(3): 459-73.
[11]
Jung K, Chin YW. Yoon Kd, et al Anti-inflammatory properties of a triterpenoidal glycoside from Momordica cochinchinensis in LPS-stimulated macrophages. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol 2013; 35(1): 8-14.
[12]
Le A, Huynh T, Parks S, Nguyen M, Roach P. Bioactive Composition, Antioxidant Activity, and Anticancer Potential of Freeze-Dried Extracts from Defatted Gac (Spreng) Seeds. Medicines (Basel) 2018; 5.
[13]
Phan-Thi H, Durand P, Prost M, Prost E, Waché Y. Effect of heat-processing on the antioxidant and prooxidant activities of β-carotene from natural and synthetic origins on red blood cells. Food Chem 2016; 190: 1137-44.
[14]
Maoka T, Yamano Y, Wada A, et al. Y Y. Oxidative metabolites of lycopene and γ-carotene in gac (Momordica cochinchinensis). J Agric Food Chem 2015; 63(5): 1622-30.
[15]
Phan-Thi H, Waché Y. Isomerization and increase in the antioxidant properties of lycopene from Momordica cochinchinensis (gac) by moderate heat treatment with UV-Vis spectra as a marker. Food Chem 2014; 156: 58-63.
[16]
Kubola J, Siriamornpun S. Phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of different fruit fractions (peel, pulp, aril and seed) of Thai gac (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng). Food Chem 2011; 127(3): 1138-45.
[17]
Tsoi AY, Ng TB, Fong WP. Antioxidative effect of a chymotrypsin inhibitor from Momordica cochinchinensis (Cucurbitaceae) seeds in a primary rat hepatocyte culture. J Pept Sci 2005; 11(10): 665-8.
[18]
ZY J. Measures to reduce or eliminate the toxicity and side effects of Chinese Herbal Medicine. Heilongjiang 2004; 27: 27.
[19]
Rajput ZI, Xiao CW, Hu SH, Habib M, Soomro NA. Enhancement of immune responses to infectious bursal disease vaccine by supplement of an extract made from Momordica cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng. seeds. Poult Sci 2010; 89(6): 1129-35.
[20]
Xiao C, Bao G, Hu S. Enhancement of immune responses to Newcastle disease vaccine by a supplement of extract of Momordica cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng. seeds. Poult Sci 2009; 88(11): 2293-7.
[21]
Xiao C, Rajput ZI, Liu D, Hu S. Enhancement of serological immune responses to foot-and-mouth disease vaccine by a supplement made of extract of cochinchina momordica seeds. Clin Vaccine Immunol 2007; 14(12): 1634-9.
[22]
Tsoi AY, Ng TB, Fong WP. Immunomodulatory activity of a chymotrypsin inhibitor from Momordica cochinchinensis seeds. J Pept Sci 2006; 12(9): 605-11.
[23]
Ng TB, Chan WY, Yeung HW. Proteins with abortifacient, ribosome inactivating, immunomodulatory, antitumor and anti-AIDS activities from Cucurbitaceae plants. Gen Pharmacol 1992; 23(4): 579-90.
[24]
Bolognesi A, Barbieri L, Carnicelli D, et al. Purification and properties of a new ribosome-inactivating protein with RNA N-glycosidase activity suitable for immunotoxin preparation from the seeds of Momordica cochinchinensis. Biochim Biophys Acta 1989; 993(2-3): 287-92.
[25]
Wang CK, Stalmans S, De Spiegeleer B, Craik DJ. Biodistribution of the cyclotide MCoTI-II, a cyclic disulfide-rich peptide drug scaffold. J Pept Sci 2016; 22(5): 305-10.
[26]
Jones PM, George AM. Computational analysis of the MCoTI-II plant defence knottin reveals a novel intermediate conformation that facilitates trypsin binding. Sci Rep 2016; 6: 23174.
[27]
D’Souza C, Henriques ST, Wang CK, et al. Using the MCoTI-II cyclotide scaffold to design a stable cyclic peptide antagonist of SET, a protein overexpressed in human cancer. Biochemistry 2016; 55(2): 396-405.
[28]
Aboye T, Meeks CJ, Majumder S, Shekhtman A, Rodgers K, Camarero JA. Design of a MCoTI-based cyclotide with angiotensin (1-7)-like activity. Molecules 2016; 21(2): 152.
[29]
Jung K, Lee D, Yu JS, Namgung H, Kang KS, Kim KH. Protective effect and mechanism of action of saponins isolated from the seeds of gac (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng.) against cisplatin-induced damage in LLC-PK1 kidney cells. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2016; 26(5): 1466-70.
[30]
Kubota K, Sato M, Murakami T, Yamagishi T. [Pharmacological studies on the saponin isolated from the seed of Momordica cochinchinensis Sprenger] Yakugaku Zasshi 1971; 91(2): 174-9.
[31]
Le A, Parks S, Nguyen M, Roach P. Optimisation of the Microwave-Assisted Ethanol Extraction of Saponins from Gac (Spreng.) Seeds. Medicines (Basel) 2018; 5(3): 70.
[32]
Fan R, Cheng RR, Zhu HT, et al. Two New Oleanane-type Triterpenoids from Methanolyzed Saponins of Momordica cochinchinensis. Nat Prod Commun 2016; 11(6): 725-8.
[33]
De Shan M, Hu LH, Chen ZL. A new multiflorane triterpenoid ester from Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng. Nat Prod Lett 2001; 15(2): 139-45.
[34]
Shang H, Gao Q, Wang Y. HPLCD detemrinaiton of 3-O-6′-O-Methyl-p-D-Glucurono Pranoside of GyPsogeulnin Momordica cochinchinesis Spreng. Yaowu Fenxi Zazhi 2002; 125-7.
[35]
Guo M, Song H, Shang H, Wang D. LIU Z, Liu S. The Rapid Identification of Momordica Saponin I from Semen Momordicae Using Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry (SPI-MSn). J Chinese Mass Spectrometry Soc 2002; 23: 135-5.
[36]
Aoki H, Kieu NT, Kuze N, Tomisaka K, Van Chuyen N. Carotenoid pigments in GAC fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis SPRENG). Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2002; 66(11): 2479-82.
[37]
Vuong LT, King JC. A method of preserving and testing the acceptability of gac fruit oil, a good source of beta-carotene and essential fatty acids. Food Nutr Bull 2003; 24(2): 224-30.
[38]
Glotzbach B, Reinwarth M, Weber N, et al. Combinatorial optimization of cystine-knot peptides towards high-affinity inhibitors of human matriptase-1. PLoS One 2013; 8(10)e76956
[39]
Swedberg JE, Ghani HA, Harris JM, de Veer SJ, Craik DJ. Potent, Selective, and Cell-Penetrating Inhibitors of Kallikrein-Related Peptidase 4 Based on the Cyclic Peptide MCoTI-II. ACS Med Chem Lett 2018; 9(12): 1258-62.
[40]
Mukherjee A, Sarkar N, Barik A. Alkanes in flower surface waxes of Momordica cochinchinensis influence attraction to Aulacophora foveicollis Lucas (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Neotrop Entomol 2013; 42(4): 366-71.
[41]
Amin ARMR, Kucuk O, Khuri FR, Shin DM. Perspectives for cancer prevention with natural compounds. J Clin Oncol 2009; 27(16): 2712-25.
[42]
Chan LY, He W, Tan N, Zeng G, Craik DJ, Daly NL. A new family of cystine knot peptides from the seeds of Momordica cochinchinensis. Peptides 2013; 39: 29-35.
[43]
Maaß F, Wüstehube-Lausch J, Dickgießer S, et al. Cystine-knot peptides targeting cancer-relevant human cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4). J Pept Sci 2015; 21(8): 651-60.
[44]
Chan LY, Wang CK, Major JM, et al. Isolation and characterization of peptides from Momordica cochinchinensis seeds. J Nat Prod 2009; 72(8): 1453-8.
[45]
Guo DL, Zhang JP, Xue YM, Hou XG. Isolation and characterization of 10 SSR markers of Momordica charantia (Cucurbitaceae). Am J Bot 2012; 99(5): e182-3.
[46]
Kang JM, Kim N, Kim B, et al. Enhancement of gastric ulcer healing and angiogenesis by cochinchina momordica seed extract in rats. J Korean Med Sci 2010; 25(6): 875-81.
[47]
Ozawa A, Lick AN, Lindberg I. Processing of proaugurin is required to suppress proliferation of tumor cell lines. Mol Endocrinol 2011; 25(5): 776-84.
[48]
Ma M, Zhao LM, Yang XX, et al. p-Hydroxylcinnamaldehyde induces the differentiation of oesophageal carcinoma cells via the cAMP-RhoA-MAPK signalling pathway. Sci Rep 2016; 6: 31315.
[49]
Oyuntsetseg N, Khasnatinov MA, Molor-Erdene P, et al. Evaluation of direct antiviral activity of the Deva-5 herb formulation and extracts of five Asian plants against influenza A virus H3N8. BMC Complement Altern Med 2014; 14: 235.
[50]
Swedberg JE, Mahatmanto T, Abdul Ghani H, et al. Substrate-Guided Design of Selective FXIIa Inhibitors Based on the Plant-Derived Momordica cochinchinensis Trypsin Inhibitor-II (MCoTI-II) Scaffold. J Med Chem 2016; 59(15): 7287-92.
[51]
Chuyen HV, Roach PD, Golding JB, Parks SE, Nguyen MH. Effects of four different drying methods on the carotenoid composition and antioxidant capacity of dried Gac peel. J Sci Food Agric 2017; 97(5): 1656-62.
[52]
Bernstein PS, Li B, Vachali PP, et al. Lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin: The basic and clinical science underlying carotenoid-based nutritional interventions against ocular disease. Prog Retin Eye Res 2016; 50: 34-66.
[53]
Gray K, Elghadban S, Thongyoo P, et al. Potent and specific inhibition of the biological activity of the type-II transmembrane serine protease matriptase by the cyclic microprotein MCoTI-II. Thromb Haemost 2014; 112(2): 402-11.
[54]
Mazzio E, Badisa R, Eyunni S, Ablordeppey S, George B, Soliman KFA. Bioactivity-Guided Isolation of Neuritogenic Factor from the Seeds of the Gac Plant (Momordica cochinchinensis). Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2018; 20188953958
[55]
Chen Y. Zhang Z, Shan Z. Influence of 24 Traditional Chinese Herbs to Viscera Index of Rat in Long Term Toxicity Test.Chinese J Med Trad Chinese Med. 2006; 12: pp. 35-6.
[56]
Sun H, Cui L, Chen H, Wang C, Lin H. The Study of Relation of Toxicity and Pharmacodynamic Action with Cochinchina Momordica Seed Crem With Eifferent Oil Content. Liaoning J Trad Chin Med 2010; 5: 946-8.
[57]
Wang B, Chen D, Huang D, Zhu J, Zhang X. Extraction, separation and acute toxicity test of saponins in Momordica cochichinensis. Anhui Yiyao 2011; 15: 147-9.
[58]
L Z. RF Y,F Y, MY L. Experimental Study on Acute Toxicity of Momordica Cochinchinensis in Mice. China Pharmacist 2017; 20: 2242-3.
[59]
JF S. Study on the toxicity of Momordica Cochinchinensis by processed pre-and post Northern pharmacy 2013; 52-3.
[60]
Chan WK, Chen K. Chinese medicinal herbs of Hong Kong. Ed: Cheung Siu-Cheong and Li Ning-Hon. Vols 1–5 Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 1978–1986 2010; p. 2.
[61]
Tan H, Liu Y, Weixiu F, Liu ML. Investigation on Chemical Thmponentsof Derixtion of Radix Paeeniae and Radix Glycyrrhizae. Zhongguo Zhongyao Zazhi 1995.
[62]
Li Z. Treatment of neurodermatitis from Momordica cochinchinensis with vinega 2015.
[63]
Wu X. The study of Dionyx chinensis and its Application in the Clinical practice of Momordica cochinchinensis. J Med Pharm Chin Minorities 2008; 14: 32-3.
[64]
Q Y. JD W Clinical Application of Huangbai Ointment in Orthopedics and Trauma. 1999.
[65]
Wang L, Zeng Y. Clinical observation and experience in the treatment of 5 cases of lung cancer edema with reused Mubiezi Study on Trace elements and Health 2013; 30: 31.
[66]
Shao X, Ye P. Curative effect observation of 51 cases of knee osteoarthritis treated by fumigation of traditional Chinese medicine. J Trad Chin Ortho Trauma 2004; 16: 32-2.
[67]
HB J. HY L, NX J. Treatment of acute and chronic soft tissue injury by external application of Mubiezi ointment. J Ext Ther Trad Chin Med 2005; 14: 56-6.
[68]
Eds. XJ S. Clinical Research on the Rules of Herbal Administration in Navel Therapy of Leukorrhagia In: ed. Shandong University of TCM 2012.
[69]
Liu Y. Momordica cochinchinensis: Treatment of 40 cases of verruca planus with edible vinega. Zhongguo Pifu Xingbingxue Zazhi 2002; 10: 19-9.
[70]
Chuethong J, Oda K, Sakurai H, Saiki I, Leelamanit W. Cochinin B, a novel ribosome-inactivating protein from the seeds of Momordica cochinchinensis. Biol Pharm Bull 2007; 30(3): 428-32.
[71]
Chuyen HV, Nguyen MH, Roach PD, Golding JB, Parks SE. Microwave-assisted extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction for recovering carotenoids from Gac peel and their effects on antioxidant capacity of the extracts. Food Sci Nutr 2017; 6(1): 189-96.
[72]
Chan LY, Craik DJ, Daly NL. Dual-targeting anti-angiogenic cyclic peptides as potential drug leads for cancer therapy. Sci Rep 2016; 6: 35347.
[73]
Mazzio E, Georges B, McTier O, Soliman KF. Neurotrophic Effects of Mu Bie Zi (Momordica cochinchinensis) Seed Elucidated by High-Throughput Screening of Natural Products for NGF Mimetic Effects in PC-12 Cells. Neurochem Res 2015; 40(10): 2102-12.
[74]
Jung K, Chin YW, Chung YH, et al. Anti-gastritis and wound healing effects of Momordicae Semen extract and its active component. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol 2013; 35(1): 126-32.
[75]
Wu ZF, Zhu B, Wang Y, Lu C, Wang GX. In vivo evaluation of anthelmintic potential of medicinal plant extracts against Dactylogyrus intermedius (Monogenea) in goldfish (Carassius auratus). Parasitol Res 2011; 108(6): 1557-63.
[76]
Matsuda H, Dai Y, Ido Y, et al. Studies on Kochiae Fructus. V. Antipruritic effects of oleanolic acid glycosides and the structure-requirement. Biol Pharm Bull 1998; 21(11): 1231-3.

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy