Extraction of insulin like compounds from bitter melon plants

Abstract

This study was focused on the insulin-like compound, charantin, as alternative drugs in order to reduce the blood. As such, the anti-diabetic compound, charantin was extracted from leaves and fruits of bitter melon. Liquid extraction charantin, from leaves and fruits of bitter melon was proposed using ethyl alcohol under special conditions of temperature and at a suitable pH values. Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of several pH values including (2-12) using different buffer systems on extraction efficiency. In addition, the extraction efficiency was found to be highly influenced by temperature, ethanol/water ratio and time of contact. A purification step was carried out using methanol-water mixture to remove interfering components such as chlorophylls and sugars from the analyte. Chemical analyses as well as identification of charantin were carried out by High Performance Liquid Chromatographic. The results indicate that Charantin were found in the fruit and leaf samples of Bitter Melon Plants. It was observed that bitter melon leaves plants contained higher concentrations of charantin analyzed as compared to fruits. The optimized conditions were 50 and 70% ethanol, 70.24 and 80.34°C and a time of contact of 60 and 70 h at pH is 5.4 for fruit and leaves, respectively. The corresponding predicted values were 55.27 mg charantin equiv. g-1 dry fruit and 144.58 mg charantin equiv. g-1 dry leaves. This experiment will help to highlight the importance of these valuable organic compounds found in these plant species and their demand in the market will be increased in the future. © 2011 Academic Journals Inc.