Comparative metabolomics-based screening of fruit extracts of less-known melon (Cucumis melo var. agrestis) accessions collected from dry terrain of North India by using HPLC-DAD.

Cucumis melo var. agrestis (Naudin) is an important wild crop that belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae. Fruits possess digestive, stomachic, vermifuge and febrifuge properties and possess analgesic, antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities. Current research is aimed at screening diverse phytoconstituents present in the fruit extract of wild melon (C. melo var. agrestis) with the technique of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Our outcomes showed that fruit extract of C. melo var. agrestis has various phytochemicals such as glycosides, alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, proteins, amino acids and carbohydrates. HPLC analysis revealed that naringenin and catechin were reported to have the highest concentrations among the all studied accessions. PCA and HCA multivariant analysis showed that, first two principal components, i.e. PC1 and PC2 contributed to 54.87% of the variation, where maximum loadings were from apigenin, trailed by gallic acid, rutin, and catechol.