Fruit from Heaven - Gac

Fruit from Heaven - Gac 

Momordica Cochinchinnensis Spreng (Gac) is botanically classified as Family Cucurbitaceae, Genus Momordica,Species Cochinchinnensis. This rampagenous perennial vine was given the name Muricia cochinchinensis by Loureiro, a Portuguese missionary-priest who published Flora Cochinchinensis in 1790. Later, Sprengel concluded that the plant belonged in the Linnean genus Momordica and changed the name in 1826 . The Vietnamese name of Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng is Day Gac . M. cochinchinensis is also indigenous to China, Moluccas (Burma), Japan, India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Bangladesh . The plant can be cultivated either from seeds or root tubers and is a vine. Leaves are alternate and deeply three-to-five-lobed with toothed margins. The leaf stalk is glandular. The gac plant is dioecious, that is, the male and female plants are separate. The flowers are pale-yellow and solitary in the axils of the leaves. The production of parthenocarpic fruits, which is of economic importance, can be accomplished using growth regulators in the female plant in the absence of male plants. However induced parthenocarpic fruits have no seed, whereas hand pollinated fruits contain 18 seeds per fruit on average .  

Fruits of M. cochinchinensis are large, densely aculaeate, and green, turning to dark orange or red when ripe. Unlike that of the bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), the exocarp (rind) of the gac fruit is hard and is covered with conical points one-eighth-inch high. The gac fruit available in Vietnam comes in oblong and almost round shapes. There are no differences in the ways the

In the battle against malnutrition, chronic vitamin A deficiency stands out as one of the most
resistant nutritional problems in developing countries, in spite of the fact that the symptoms are
not difficult to identify, the aetiology is well understood, treatments are available, and in most
cases a food source of retinol and provitamin A carotenoids is plentiful.

In the diet, vitamin A comes in two forms: preformed vitamin A and provitamin A. Preformed vitamin A is usually in the form of retinyl ester, derived from animal tissue such as egg, fish oils, and flesh, and organ meats. Milk, cream, butter, cheese and fortified foods such as margarine also contain vitamin A. Vitamin A can also be obtained from provitamin A carotenoids which can be converted enzymatically in the intestine and liver to retinol. Carotenoids in plants are the primary dietary source of vitamin A worldwide. The most efficient pro-vitamin A carotenoid is carotene which is abundant in yellow and orange fruits, such as mangoes, papayas, and yams and in green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, sweet potato leaves, and sweet gourd leaves. Consumption of foods rich in b-carotene theoretically can replete individuals to a healthy vitamin A status.

Among the indigenous plants of northern Vietnam, the Gac fruit (Momordica Cochinchinnensis Spreng) has the highest B-carotene content. Pro-vitamin A from orange fruits has been shown to be more bioavailable than that from dark-green leafy vegetables. The seed membrane and pulp of the gac fruit also contains a significant amount of oil, which is essential for the absorption and transport of b-carotene . This is especially critical in this population where dietary fat intake is very low . Traditionally, Gac seed and pulp are mixed with cooked rice to impart a red color and distinct flavour. The local name of the dish is Xoi Gac. Because this dish is already well accepted, promoting its consumption could produce a substantial increase in b-carotene intake.

In ripe gac fruit, b-carotene is the dominant carotenoid with concentration as high as 35,500 mg/ 100g. The name xoi gac means red rice; and when the gac fruit is not in season, rice with red food colourant is also called xoi gac, which local people occasionally eat for breakfast. In addition to their use in xoi gac, the seed membranes are also used to make a tonic (gac oil) for lactating or pregnant women and children, to treat "dry eyes" (xerophthalmia), and night blindness.When applied to wounds, skin infections, and burns, gac oil stimulated the new growth of skin, and closure of wounds . A document on Vietnamese traditional medicine lists the use of the gac seed membrane, which contains carotene and lycopene, to treat infantile rachitis, xerophthalmia and night-blindness. The report notes that the oil extract from the seed membrane can be given to small children to improve growth.