BITTER MELON
Product No. P11005
Also known as Momordica chinensis, Karella, Papailla, Bittergourd, Balsam apple, and Balsam pear.
Bitter Melon is from the Cucurbitaceae family, and the Charantia species. The whole plant, fruit and seed are all used.
Bitter melon grows in tropical areas, including parts of the Amazon, east Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, and is cultivated throughout South America as a food and medicine. It is a slender, climbing annual vine, with long-stalked leaves and yellow, solitary male and female flowers. The fruit appears as a warty gourd, usually oblong and resembling a small cucumber. The young fruit is green, turning to orange-yellow when ripe, and at maturity, the fruit splits into three, curling backwards and releasing numerous brown or white seeds encased in scarlet arils. The Latin name for Bitter Melon, Momordica, means ‘to bite’ (referring to the jagged edges of the leaf, which appear as if they have been bitten). All parts of the plant, including the fruit, taste very bitter as the name suggests.
In the Amazon, local people and indigenous tribes grow bitter melon in their gardens for food and medicine, and the plant has a long history of use for medicinal purposes. A leaf tea is used for treating diabetes; as a carminative for colic; topically for sores, wounds, and infections internally and externally for worms and parasites, and as an antiviral for measles, hepatitis and fever. In Brazilian herbal medicine, bitter melon is used for tumours, wounds, rheumatism, malaria, inflammation, menstrual problems, diabetes, colic, fevers, to induce abortion, and as an aphrodisiac. It is also used topically for many skin problems such as itchy rashes and eczema. In Nicaragua, the leaf is commonly used for stomach pain, diabetes, fevers, colds, coughs, headaches, malaria, skin complaints, menstrual disorders, aches and pains, hypertension, infections, and as an aid in childbirth.
Bitter melon contains an array of biologically active phytochemicals including triterpenes, proteins and steroids. Studies have shown that at least three different groups of constituents found in bitter melon have clinically demonstrated hypoglycemic properties (lowering of blood sugar), or other actions of potential benefit against diabetes. These hypoglycemic chemicals include a mixture of steroidal saponins known as charantins, insulin-like peptides, and alkaloids. The fruit has also shown the ability to enhance the cells uptake of glucose, to promote insulin release, and give the effect of insulin.
In some studies, bitter melon fruit and seed has been shown to reduce total cholesterol and triglycerides, and one phytochemical that is present has clinically demonstrated the ability to inhibit an enzyme thought to be linked to the pathogenesis and replication of not only psoriasis, but also leukaemia and cancer. Numerous studies have also demonstrated the anti-cancerous and anti-leukaemic activity of bitter melon against cell lines including liver cancer, human leukaemia, melanoma and solid sarcomas.
The phytochemical momordin has clinically demonstrated activity against Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and several other studies have demonstrated the cytostatic and anti-tumour activity of the entire bitter melon plant, as well as antiviral activity against many viruses, including Epstein-Barr, herpes, and HIV viruses.
In addition to these properties, leaf extracts of bitter melon have clinically demonstrated broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. Various water, ethanol, and methanol extracts of the leaves have demonstrated antibacterial activities against E. Coli, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Streptobacillus and Streptococcus.
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