Issue No. 15 August 2012 Our bitter gourd smiley faces remind us that a smile will get us through any bitter day. S m I L E OUTPUT 2 and 3 – Germplasm Evaluation and Factorial Studies Dr. Mamta Pathak of Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, India reported a very good bitter gourd season. Photos from her trial can be found in the June issue of BiG News. Presently the data are being collected on various horticultural characteristics from this season’s trial. In Bangkok, Thailand, our Cucurbit breeder, Dr. Narinder Dhillon and his team have been growing bitter gourds in the AVRDC-East and Southeast Asia Regional Office field to train farmers in bitter gourd cultivation. His model is used as a demonstration for our multi-location trials. In this issue, Dr. Dhillon provided us with a step-by-step picture brief on bitter gourd growing. Thank you Dr. Dhillon and your team! Newsletter Contact: [email protected] Newsletter Contact: [email protected] © 2012 Bitter Gourd Project. Issue No. 15 Bitter Gourd Project NEWS August 2012 Growing Bitter Gourd 101 Step 5: Fix the rope (upper and lower ends) and move the plastic net to other end Step 1: Bed preparation Step 3: Bamboo fixing – Vertical (2.5 m between bamboo sticks) and horizontal Step 6: Tie up (blue rope) the net at various points on the vertical and horizontal bamboos Step 2: Mulching Step 4: Slip thin plastic rope in the ends of the plastic net bundle Step 7: Make hole (2 m apart) in plastic with hot iron device Finally, here is a picture of a bitter gourd field waiting for harvest! Newsletter Contact: [email protected] Step 8: Make small hole below the big one for post planting fertilizer placement © 2012 Bitter Gourd Project. Issue No. 15 Bitter Gourd Project NEWS August 2012 OUTPUT 4 – Efficacy Studies Animal Trial On August 23rd, Dr. Sandra Habicht and Ms. Hsin-I Wang started the bitter gourd treatment of the mice in the animal center. The three weeks of high fat diet treatment prior to the bitter gourd treatment were successful and high fat diet-fed mice gained more weight than the low fat diet mice. PTP 1B activity was measured in liver and muscle samples from the first animal trial (January and February 2012) by the Taiwanese summer student Ms. Shu-yu Cheng (Iris). Iris worked with AVRDC-Nutrition in Shanhua, Taiwan from July 1st to August 31st under the supervision of Dr. Sandra Habicht. Upon completion of her research at the Center, Iris gave a short presentation titled, “Does bitter gourd inhibit PTP 1B activity in diabetic mice?” on August 30th at AVRDC-HQ as part of the Undergraduate Interns’ Seminar Series. Iris will be returning to her undergraduate studies in Nutrition at the Taipei Medical University in September. In Pictures: 1. Iris giving her presentation during the AVRDC Undergraduate Interns’ Seminar 2. (Left to right): Iris, Ms. Lydia Wu (AVRDC – Training Coordinator), and Mr. Yen-ting Tung (Robert) - trainee at AVRDCNutrition 1 2 Dietary Strategies Ms. Jessica Louie completed her 5 weeks internship at AVRDC-Nutrition. Before leaving, she presented her research in a seminar at AVRDC-HQ on August 17th on the topic of “Evaluating the effect of food preparation, processing, and storage on the anti-diabetic activity of bitter gourd”. She compared anti-diabetic effects of different cooking methods of the bitter gourd in cell culture. First results indicate that the processing does influence the quantity of bioactive compounds and anti-diabetic effectiveness. In Pictures: 1 Newsletter Contact: [email protected] 1. Jessica receives her AVRDC Undergraduate Internship Completion Certificate from AVRDC Deputy Director General of Research, Dr. Jacqueline Hughes © 2012 Bitter Gourd Project. Issue No. 15 Bitter Gourd Project NEWS 1 2 August 2012 While Jessica has completed her research, she established a protocol for extracting bitter gourd compounds that will be used by Mrs. Gomathi Kannusamy (Avinashilingam University for Women, India) and Ms. Gloria Damian Salla (Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, Tanzania) in their study conducted at AVRDC-Nutrition in Shanhua, Taiwan. Both Gomathi and Gloria will research the anti-diabetic properties of bitter gourd that has been processed using cooking methods popular in Indian and Tanzanian cuisine. They will continue to develop bitter gourd recipes that maximize nutrient value and anti-diabetic properties. In August, Gomathi and Gloria finished preparing samples of four cooking methods: Raw (soaked in water for 30 minutes); Boiled; Pan-fried; Braised and Stewed. These samples were prepared in three replications and will be used to analyse anti-diabetic and antioxidant effects. In Pictures: 3 4 5 6 7 8 Newsletter Contact: [email protected] 1. Weighing 5 kg of bitter gourd 2. The bitter gourds are then cut, weighed, and separated into 300 g portions for different cooking methods 3. Gomathi adds a measured amount of cooking oil while she heats up the pan 4. Gloria puts bitter gourds into boiling water 5. After cooking, the bitter gourds are chilled in a container put in ice to room temperature to stop the cooking process 6-8. Samples are then blended and put into beakers to be frozen at -70°C before continuing with the extraction process © 2012 Bitter Gourd Project.
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