Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is a tropical and subtropical vegetable renowned for its distinctively bitter taste. It is rich in bioactive compounds and widely utilized in traditional medicine to treat conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and bacterial or viral infections. Despite its health benefits, the intense bitterness of bitter gourd has limited its culinary applications. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an alternative fermented bitter gourd product while increasing its gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content to enhance its nutritional value. Chopped bitter gourd was fermented at 30 °C in sterilized brine (1% NaCl) containing 1% glucose, both with and without the supplementation of 0.1% monosodium glutamate (MSG). The fermentation brines were inoculated with GABA-producing bacteria isolated from kimchi and nham (fermented Thai sausage). GABA concentrations in the fermented brines were subsequently analyzed via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) following sample and standard derivatization with o-phthalaldehyde prior to injection. The results demonstrated that GABA contents were generally higher in brines supplemented with MSG. Furthermore, the GABA concentrations were significantly higher in the brines inoculated with the GABA-producing strains and supplemented with MSG compared to the controls. Interestingly, the glutamate-supplemented brines also contained significantly higher concentrations of arginine than the glutamate-lacking controls throughout the entire fermentation period. In conclusion, glutamate in the fermented bitter gourd brines was not only converted to GABA by the isolated bacteria but was also likely synthesized into arginine. Although the exact mechanism driving this arginine production in fermented bitter gourd requires further clarification, this study successfully demonstrated the feasibility of producing fermented bitter gourd with enhanced GABA and arginine contents.
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