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Identification of chemotypes in bitter melon by metabolomics: a plant with potential benefit for management of diabetes in traditional Chinese medicine

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Abstract

Introduction

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia, Cucurbitaceae) is a popular edible medicinal plant, which has been used as a botanical dietary supplement for the treatment of diabetes and obesity in Chinese folk medicine. Previously, our team has proved that cucurbitanes triterpenoid were involved in bitter melon’s anti-diabetic effects as well as on increasing energy expenditure. The triterpenoids composition can however be influenced by changes of varieties or habitats.

Objectives

To clarify the significance of bioactive metabolites diversity among different bitter melons and to provide a guideline for selection of bitter melon varieties, an exploratory study was carried out using a UHPLC-HRMS based metabolomic study to identify chemotypes.

Methods

Metabolites of 55 seed samples of bitter melon collected in different parts of China were profiled by UHPLC-HRMS. The profiling data were analysed with multivariate (MVA) statistical methods. Principle component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were applied for sample differentiation. Marker compounds were identified by comparing spectroscopic data with isolated compounds, and additional triterpenes were putatively identified by propagating annotations through a molecular network (MN) generated from UHPLC-HRMS & MS/MS metabolite profiling.

Results

PCA and HCA provided a good discrimination between bitter melon samples from various origins in China. This study revealed for the first time the existence of two chemotypes of bitter melon. Marker compounds of those two chemotypes were identified at different MSI levels. The combined results of MN and MVA demonstrated that the two chemotypes mainly differ in their richness in cucurbitane versus oleanane triterpenoid glycosides (CTGs vs. OTGs).

Conclusion

Our finding revealed a clear chemotype distribution of bioactive components across bitter melon varieties. While bioactivities of individual CTGs and OTGs still need to be investigated in more depth, our results could help in future the selection of bitter melon varieties with optimised metabolites profile for an improved management of diabetes with this popular edible Chinese folk medicine.

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Data availability

The data in this study are deposited in MetaboLights (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/metabolights/) study identifier MTBLS701.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful for the financial support of the Sino-Swiss Science and Technology Cooperation (SSSTC) program (Grant No. EG 08-032014). Financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 81573305, 81673327) is also acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, EPGL, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, CMU – Rue Michel-Servet 1, CH-1206, Geneva 4, Switzerland

    Shuaizhen Zhou, Pierre-Marie Allard & Jean-Luc Wolfender

  2. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zürich, Institute of Food Nutrition and Health, Schorenstr. 16, 8603, Schwerzenbach, Switzerland

    Christian Wolfrum

  3. State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, & SIMM/CUHK Joint Research Laboratory of Promoting of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Natural Products Chemistry Department, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu-Chong-Zhi Road, Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, Shanghai, 201203, People’s Republic of China

    Shuaizhen Zhou, Changqiang Ke, Chunping Tang & Yang Ye

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  1. Shuaizhen Zhou
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  2. Pierre-Marie Allard
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  6. Yang Ye
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Contributions

YY and JLW designed the project and supervised the data analysis. SZ performed the chemical experiments and UHPLC-HRMS analysis. SZ and PMA performed data analysis. SZ, CQ and CT performed the quantitation analysis. SZ and CW wrote the manuscript. All authors edited and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yang Ye or Jean-Luc Wolfender.

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Zhou, S., Allard, PM., Wolfrum, C. et al. Identification of chemotypes in bitter melon by metabolomics: a plant with potential benefit for management of diabetes in traditional Chinese medicine. Metabolomics 15, 104 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-019-1565-7

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