Momordica Charantia L. Variety from Northeastern Brazil: Analysis of Antimicrobial Activity and Phytochemical Components

Introduction: Momordica charanthia L., Curcubitaceae, is a pantropical food and medicinal plant. The plant is included in the Official List of Brazilian Medicinal Plants of interest to the Brazilian Unified Health System. The study aimed to perfom microbiological studies with extracts of Momordica charanthia L. including chemical characterization of the active extracts. Methods: The antimicrobial activity was evaluated with the hydroalcoholic and acetone extracts of M. charantia leaves, fruits and seeds from northeastern Brazil using microdilution broth technique on the selected clinical bacterial and fungal strains. Extracts that presented antimicrobial were subjected to ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QToF-ESI-MS). Results: The in vitro antimicrobial assays demonstrated that the leaves extracts presented good antibacterial effect against four Staphylococcus aureus strains, and a weak antifungal activity agaist Candida albicans. Fourteen compounds were identified in the hydroalcoholic extract, while 12 were found in the acetone extract. The most important compounds were kaempferol, quercertin and triterpenoids like cucurbitacins. Conclussion: The present study demonstrated the potential antibacterial activity of M. charantia L. from northeastern part of Brazil, in addition to important phytochemical metabolites known to possess antibacterial activities, particularly against microrganisms of clinical importance. The UPLC phytochemical profile of the Brazilian variety is reported here for the first time. The phytochemical profile of the LHE and FAE demonstrated the presence of biologically and pharmacologically active compounds. There is lack of biological and pharmacological studies to support the medicinal uses of this important plant. The Brazilian variety of M. Charantia could be a potential therapeutic agent in the treatment of infections.