2024, Vol. 12, Issue 6, Part B

author(s)
Tunde Balogun and Chinedu Okafor

abstract
Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.), widely consumed across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, is a plant known for both its dietary and medicinal value. Beyond its traditional use in managing metabolic disorders, bitter gourd exhibits potent antioxidant and antimicrobial properties that contribute to its broader therapeutic profile. The present study provides a comparative analysis of the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of different bitter gourd extracts—aqueous, ethanolic, and methanolic—using standard research approaches. Antioxidant activities are evaluated through DPPH radical scavenging, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and ABTS assays, while antimicrobial activities are assessed against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains and selected fungal pathogens using agar well diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) methods. Results from literature and experimental evidence suggest that solvent type significantly influences the bioactivity of extracts, with methanolic extracts generally yielding higher phenolic and flavonoid content, and consequently stronger antioxidant capacity. In antimicrobial assays, ethanolic extracts often demonstrate superior inhibitory effects, particularly against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. This comparative study underscores the role of extraction methods in determining bioactive potential and highlights the dual therapeutic relevance of bitter gourd as a natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agent.