Occurrence of yellow mosaic geminiviral disease on bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) and its impact on phytochemical contents

Abstract

Natural occurrence of yellow mosaic disease was observed on bitter gourd (Momordica charantia). Association of geminivirus with the disease was investigated through polymerase chain reaction using geminivirus-specific primers and Southern hybridization with a probe prepared from the cloned DNA of a known geminivirus. The fruits, leaves and stem of infected and healthy plants were studied for phytochemical composition. The amounts of protein were 49%, 50% and 66% higher, total carotenoids were 36%, 33% and 40% lower, vitamin C were 23%, 48% and 50% lower, total phenols were 28%, 31% and 43% lower, and antioxidant activity were 36%, 48% and 43% lower in the severely virus infected fruits, leaves and stem, respectively, as compared with healthy plants. The loss in the quantity of these phytochemicals was also observed even in mild infected plants, which further increased with the severity of the symptoms. Similarly, ethanol and 50% ethanol soluble extractive were also 25-43% lower in the fruits, leaves and stem of infected plants as compared with the healthy plants. A 45% and 54% lower caffeic acid, and 78% and 59% lower amounts of ferulic acid in the fruits and stem, respectively, and a 25% loss of gallic acid were noticed in the leaves of the severely infected plants.

Phytochemicals and antioxidative enzymes defence mechanism on occurrence of yellow vein mosaic disease of pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata)

“…Similar observations were reported for begomovirus-infected bitter gourd, where the total level of proteins was increased from 49 to 66 % (Raj et al 2005). Content of vitamin C declined by 25 % and antioxidants level declined by 35–47 % in infected leaves and fruits.…”

Cassava brown streak disease effects on leaf metabolites and pigment accumulation

“…According to Srivastava et al (2010) plant viruses inhibit the production of chlorophyll and other plant based pigments. Specifically, viruses that cause yellowing or discolouration of leaves lead to destruction of the chlorophyll pigments, in addition to loss in leaf nutrient content (Raj et al, 2005). Thus, as observed in this study, the most likely explanation would be viral destruction of photosynthetic apparatus in the fully developed leaves.…”

Antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities of wild bitter melon (Momordica charantia Linn. var. abbreviata Ser.) in Taiwan

“…From the literatures, BM is known to contain compounds such as momorcharins, momordenol, momordicilin, momordicins, momordicinin, momordin, momordolol, charantin, charine, cryptoxanthin, cucurbitins, cucurbitacins, cucurbitanes, cycloartenols, diosgenin, elaeostearic acids, erythrodiol, galacturonic acids, gentisic acid, goyaglycosides and goyasaponins (Grover & Yadav, 2004), caffeic acid and ferulic acid (Raj, Khan, Singh, Kumari, & Prakash, 2005), fisetin and isorhamnetin (Lako et al, 2007), 3b,25-dihydroxy-7b-methoxycucurbita-5,23(E)-diene, 3b-hydroxy-7,25-dimethoxycucurbita-5,23(E)-diene and 3-O-b-D-allopyranosyl-7b,25-dihydroxycucurbita-5,23(E)-dien-19-al (Harinantenaina et al, 2006). Its MAP30 protein exhibited anti-HIV and anti-tumor activities (Lee- Huang et al, 1995), momorcharins and momordins showed activities in inactivating ribosomes, momordin 1c and oleanolic acid glycoside in altering gastrointestinal transit time and blood glucose (Chao & Huang, 2003;Grover & Yadav, 2004).…”