Effects of different heat treatments on the antioxidant activity and ascorbic acid content of bitter melon, Momordica charantia

Abstract This study investigated the effects of different heat treatments, namely boiling, microwaving and pressure cooking, on the reduced ascorbic acid content and antioxidant activity in Momordica charantia extracts. The total antioxidant activity of M. charantia extracts was determined by ferric reducing-antioxidant power and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assays. The reduced ascorbic acid content was estimated by ferric reducing-antioxidant power-ascorbic acid assay and confirmed by high performance liquid chromatography. Regardless of the cooking method, all cooked M. charantia extracts had significantly (p boiled > pressure-cooked > uncooked. The reduced ascorbic acid in M. charantia strongly correlated with the total antioxidant activity (r = 0.958, p