Underutilized crop-wild variant of popular leafy vegetable <i>Basella alba L.</i> - a source of nutrients and novel bioactive components

A crop-wild variant of popular leafy vegetable <i>Basella alba</i> L. is consumed in different regions of India especially in West Bengal by the rural people. It is yet to achieve popularity and wide acceptance as leafy vegetable. GC-MS analysis of methanolic leaf extracts of both the cultivated and crop-wild underutilised member revealed the presence of nutritive as well as novel bioactive compounds like - 14B-pregnane, hydrocortisone or cortisol, α-tocospiro A and B, triterpenoid - lupeol and simiarenol, vitamin C conjugate, phytol, etc. This is the first report of the presence of steroid hydrocortisone in any plant source and 14B-pregnane, a precursor of progesterone in the family Basellaceae, though the latter is of wide occurrence in the members of Apocynaceae and Asclepiadaceae. The crop-wild variant appeared very competitive even better than its popular cultivated relative in terms of palatability, nutritive value as well as novel bioactive compounds.