Survey of antioxidants and photosynthetic pigments in the newly introduced crops of Russia: Benincasa hispida, Vigna unguiculata, Cucumis metuliferus and Momordica charantia

Introduction of new vegetable crops and extending newer assortments are important tasks of breeding programs to provide food to the growing population. Introduced crops have shown adaptability to the growing conditions but, also need to be rich in low-molecular metabolites with antioxidant activity. Hence, the goal of this study was to investigate the content of pigments and antioxidants. Several varieties of Benincasa hispida, Vigna unguiculata, Cucumis metuliferus and Momordica charantia were cultivated during 2018 under glasshouse conditions at Central Siberian Botanical Garden, Novosibirsk region and simultaneously under field and glasshouse conditions in the Federal Scientific Vegetable Center, Moscow region. Results showed that Momordica charantia had a high content of photosynthetic pigments with antioxidant activity and total antioxidant status, particularly grown under field condition. Samples of Cucumis metuliferus also showed a high total antioxidant and chlorophyll content. Thus, due to their high content in antioxidants and other metabolites, these introduced vegetables should be considered among the main crops to develop functional foods.