A momordicine is any of several compounds found in the

bitter melon ''Momordica charantia'' (commonly called bitter melon; Goya; bitter apple; bitter gourd; bitter squash; balsam-pear; with many more names listed below) is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Afri ...

vine, ''Momordica charantia''. They are

glycosides In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

cucurbitane Cucurbitane is a class of chemical compounds with formula ( CAS number 65441-59-0). It is a polycyclic hydrocarbon, specifically triterpene. It is also an isomer of lanostane (specifically 19(10→9β)-abeolanostane), from which it differs by ...

derivatives.Daniel Bisrat Mekuria, Takehiro Kashiwagi, Shin-ichi Tebayashi, and Chul-Sa Kim (2006)"Cucurbitane Glucosides from ''Momordica charantia'' Leaves as Oviposition Deterrents to the Leafminer, ''Liriomyza trifolii''". ''Z. Naturforsch.'', volume 61c, pages 81–86 They include *

Momordicine II A momordicine is any of several compounds found in the bitter melon vine, ''Momordica charantia''. They are glycosides of cucurbitane derivatives.Daniel Bisrat Mekuria, Takehiro Kashiwagi, Shin-ichi Tebayashi, and Chul-Sa Kim (2006)"Cucurbitane Glu ...

Momordicine IV A momordicine is any of several compounds found in the bitter melon vine, ''Momordica charantia''. They are glycosides of cucurbitane derivatives.Daniel Bisrat Mekuria, Takehiro Kashiwagi, Shin-ichi Tebayashi, and Chul-Sa Kim (2006)"Cucurbitane Glu ...

, 7-''O''-''D''-glucopyranosyl-3,23-dihydroxycucurbita-5,24-dien-19-al Momordicine II and IV can be extracted from the leaves of ''M. charantia'' by

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...

. They have been found to deter egg-laying of the

leaf mining fly A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

(''Liriomyza trifolii'') at a combined concentration of 96 µg/cm2.

References

{{Chemistry index Triterpene glycosides

See also

References