Recent advances in the development of bitter gourd seed oil: from chemical composition to potential applications.

Non-conventional seed oils are being considered novelty foods due to the unique properties of their chemical constituents. Numerous such seed oils serve as nutritional and functional supplements, making them a point of interest for scholars. Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) seed oil (BGSO) has been widely used in folk medicine worldwide for the treatment of different pathologies, such as diabetes, cancer, and several inflammatory diseases. Therefore, its nutritional and medicinal value has been extensively studied. Considering the potential use of BGSO, it is imperative to have a comprehensive understanding of this product to develop and use its biologically active ingredients in innovative food and pharmaceutical products. An extensive understanding of BGSO would also help improve the economic feasibility of the bitter gourd seed processing industry and help prevent environmental pollution associated with the raw waste produced during the processing of bitter gourd seeds. This review addresses the potential uses of BGSO in terms of food and pharmaceuticals industry perspectives and comprehensively summarizes the oil extraction process, chemical composition, biological activity, and the application prospects of BGSO in clinical medicine.

Protein-Bound Anthocyanin Compounds of Purple Sweet Potato Ameliorate Hyperglycemia by Regulating Hepatic Glucose Metabolism in High-Fat Diet/Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Mice.

Purple sweet potato is known as a rich source of protein and anthocyanins. Anthocyanins can form complexes with protein present in food products through non-covalent forces or covalent bonds during processing, transportation, and storage as their protein affinity. We evaluated the hypoglycemic effects of protein-bound anthocyanin compounds of purple sweet potato (p-BAC-PSP) and free anthocyanin compounds of purple sweet potato (FAC-PSP) in high-fat diet/streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. The results showed that administration of both p-BAC-PSP and FAC-PSP improved diabetic condition, as evidenced by the improvement of glucose tolerance and lipid metabolism, and the decrease of oxidative stress and liver damage. For the mechanism study, we have found that p-BAC-PSP and FAC-PSP induced the expression of AMP-activated protein kinase in liver. With p-BAC-PSP or FAC-PSP treatment, glucose transporter type 2, the protein levels of glucokinase, and insulin receptor α were found to be improved significantly (p < 0.05). Glycolysis key genes, phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase, were upregulated in two treatment groups, while gluconeogenic genes, glucose-6-phosphatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, were downregulated. Our findings suggested that p-BAC-PSP has great potential as a dietary supplement with hypoglycemic activity for general, pre-diabetic, and diabetic population.