Bitter Melon Health Article

Description

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is a tropical plant that grows in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. It is also known as balsam pear. This annual of the Cucurbitaceae family is a thin, climbing vine with long, stalked leaves that flowers in July or August. The plant bears a long, cucumber-shaped fruit that hangs like a pendulum, with small bumps all over it. The plant, which is green when it is young and yellowish-orange when it is ripe, fruits around September or October. All parts of the plant—the seeds, leaves and vines—are used for medicinal purposes, but the actual fruit of the bitter melon is most commonly used. The name of the plant's

genus, Momordica, is derived from the Latin word for bite, as the seeds of the fruit are serrated and appear as if they have been chewed or bitten.

General use

Bitter melon is used both as a medicine and as a food. It is often added to dishes, for all parts of the plant, as its name suggests, taste very bitter and add an astringent or sour quality to foods. Bitter melon contains a protein, MAP30, that was patented by American scientists in 1996. These scientists stated that MAP30 is effective against tumors, AIDS, and other viruses. The plant has been used around the world, from native healers in the Amazon to Ayurvedic doctors in India, to treat diabetes as it is a natural hypoglycemic. In India, the plant is also used in treating hemorrhoids, abdominal discomfort, fever, warm infections, and skin diseases.

Diabetes

Bitter melon has been used to treat diabetes mellitus. The plant contains at least three known compounds that significantly lower the body's blood sugar level. The plant's phytochemical composition is a combination of steroidal saponins, charantin, peptides, and alkaloids that contribute to bitter melon's hypoglycemic effects. In the Amazon, the juice of the fruit is used, either alone or in conjunction with a leaf decoction, to treat diabetes. In India, where the plant is called kalara, the leaves are ground up, the juice is extracted, and the extract taken early in the morning for 15 days.