Chemical Profiling of Momordica charantia L. Seed Essential Oil and Its Antimicrobial Activity

Momordica charantia L. is an essential oil-bearing plant of the family Cucurbitaceae. Not much has been described about the plant on literature survey. Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/ MS) analysis of the essential oil reported the presence of major volatile components, such as 5-(Hydroxymethyl) -2-(1-methyl-2-imidazolyl)-1H-benzimidazole (79.18 %) and as 2-Cyclohexen-1-one, 2-methyl-5-(1-methylethenyl), (R)- (13.90 %). The essential oil mainly consists of Benzimidazoles (79.18 %) and oxygen derivative monoterpenoids (13.09 %) in the total oil. The essential oil exhibited strong activity against all the tested bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus, and antifungal activity against Candida tropicalis. The highest percentage of inhibition by the essential oil was found against the bacteria, K. pneumoniae followed by E. coli, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa respectively, and the fungi C. tropicalis. The present result revealed that essential oil of M. charantia seed possesses potent antimicrobial properties and could be taken as a source for the production of future antimicrobial drugs. This is the first report where the major compound 5-(Hydroxymethyl)-2-(1-methyl-2-imidazolyl)-1H-benzimidazole (79.18 %) was isolated from M. charantia seed oil from the Western Ghats of South India.Key word: Momordica charantia, essential oil, GC/MS, inhibition, antimicrobial properties.