Nutraceutical Potentials of Watermelon
Consumption of fruits and vegetables in regular
diet provides several health benefits.
The wide occurrence of phytochemicals such as carotenoids, lycopenes, anthocyanins, phenols, and flavonoids along with vitamins and minerals makes the choice of plant based diet healthier.
It lowers the risks of various dreadful diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders and aging associated ailments.
Plants, being the wide source of pharmaceutically valuable secondary metabolites, provide diverse products in the form of fruits and vegetables loaded with nutraceutical potential. In general, the major role of secondary metabolites in plants are pertained to the protection against diverse abiotic and biotic stresses. In addition, secondary metabolites also acts as an antimicrobial agents and antioxidants to combat stresses.
Watermelon is a notable horticultural crop belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family cultivated widely for its delicious fruits.
Asian countries contribute approximately 81% of total production of watermelon worldwide [1].
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, a cultivation area of 3.2 million hectares was employed for the production of 103 million tons of watermelon worldwide in 2018 [1].
The watermelon fruits are used for the preparation of smoothies, jams, sauces, candies, and juices. Watermelon serves as a vital natural source of l-citrulline (0.9 to 5 mg/kg of fresh fruit) [2].
The refreshing taste, high water content, and its attractive colors ranging from red, yellow, and pink increases the consumption of watermelon.
The diverse colors of watermelon are due to the presence of carotenoids especially, lycopene and β-carotene [2].
The sweet taste of watermelon is contributed by the combination of sugars such as glucose, sucrose, and fructose. Moreover, watermelon, acts as a vital reservoir of valuable phytochemicals with high nutrition and pharmaceutical potentials.
In particular, watermelon can be considered as an excellent functional food due to its rich lycopene, vitamin A, vitamin C contents and antioxidant potentials [3,4].
Bioactive compounds present in watermelon render numerous health benefits, such as decreasing the risk of cardio-vascular disease, aging related ailments, obesity, diabetes, and various cancer alleviating effects have been reported [5,6,7,8,9,10].
In 1930, Wada [11] determined and isolated citrulline, a non-essential amino acid from watermelon which is involved in the synthesis of arginine. The amino acid arginine is vital for the endogenous synthesis of nitric oxide, a crucial signaling molecule involved in various neurological and immune responses in animals and humans [12].
Watermelon acts as a vital dietary supplement to enhance the arginine content.
In watermelon, citrulline aid in the
tolerance against stresses such as drought [13].
Moreover, the seeds of watermelon are enriched with protein, fat, and moderate levels of iron and zinc. Watermelon seeds are consumed as snacks, fat binder, soup thickener, condiments, and also for the extraction of cooking oil [14,15,16]. The occurrence of high arginine content in the seeds of watermelon adds its medicinal benefits [17].
Due to the presence of various nutritious benefits the seeds of watermelon possess application in the field of several food products. Recently, Sola et al. [18] identified and quantified the phytochemicals in the methanol extracts derived from the seeds of watermelon. Furthermore, the report [18] evidenced the anti-bacterial property of watermelon seed extracts.
The present review deals with various nutraceutical potentials of watermelon and its importance as an antioxidant, anti-cancerous, cardiovascular protectant, anti-inflammatory properties evidenced by in vitro and in vivo studies.
Ref
Molecules
. 2020 Nov 11;25(22):5258. doi: 10.3390/molecules25225258
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