Isolation and phytochemical characterisation of bioactive compounds from the root extracts of Momordica dioica Roxb. ex Willd

Momordica dioica Roxb. belonging to the family of Cucurbitaceae, is a vegetable crop native to India and South Asia. It is widely utilised in traditional medicine for managing diabetes, preventing haemorrhoids and treating a range of other health conditions. Despite its therapeutic and nutritional potential, M. dioica remains an underutilised vegetable. In the present study, the root extract of M. dioica has been examined in search of various natural components and identified them using various chemical tests and spectroscopic techniques. Dried and finely grounded roots of M. dioica were used for the extraction using dichloromethane and methanol as solvent. All the prepared crude root extracts were examined for their preliminary phytochemical testing, confirming the presence of terpenoids, saponins, carbohydrates, glycosides and steroids. The crude extracts were also subjected individually to column chromatography and mainly eight compounds were isolated and identified as bis(11,11-dimethyldodecyl) terephthalate (MD-1), butyl pentanoate (MD-2), tricosanoic acid (MD-3), α-spinasterol (MD-4), hexadecanoic acid (MD-5), stigmas-5-en-3β-ol (MD-6), ursolic acid (MD-7) and β-sitosterol-β-D-galactoside (MD-8). This study reports, for the first time, the presence of MD-1 in M. dioica. The identification of various metabolites, including compounds with known therapeutic properties such as, highlights its potential as a promising vegetable for the treatment of several ailments.