Southern balsam pear (Momordica balsamina L.): Characterization of underutilized cucurbitaceous vegetable

Abstract

The Southern balsam pear (Momardica balsamina) is a non-tuber vegetable with a genus name Momordica, which belongs to Cucurbitaceae family and considered as one of the most untapped crop and not popularized in any cuisine. Its tender fruits are utilized as vegetables, hence it necessitate to exploit as commercial vegetable. Thereby preliminary study was carried to examine the morphological, agronomical and nutritional traits. The results revealed that annual growth habit of plants with monoecious sex form, anthesis occur in between 4 and 8 AM, flowers are light yellowish with green stigma and symmetric anthers. Fruit shape varied with ovoid to ellipsoid without tubercles on fruit surface, and were with light green berries. It is sexually propagated by seeds, which are round oval shape, seeds noted to be an epigeal type of germination. The leaves are serrated by wider angles, stem is angular without pubescence with the fibrous root system. The fruits are rich in minerals namely potassium (43.67 mg/100 g), phosphorous (9.67 mg/100 g), calcium (2.02 mg/100 g) and iron (1.24 mg/100 g). It is also a good source of antioxidants, especially ascorbic acid (65.54 mg/100 g), total carotenoids (2.78 mg/100 g), and lycopene (2.10 mg/100 g). The observed results revealed that the stated crop has low agronomical performance for fruit yield attributes. Therefore, acquired information will be used in the exploration and diversification of Southern balsam pear for genetic improvement and breeding of ecotypes for sustainable cultivation of vegetable.