Bitter melon

Momordica charantia is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown for edible fruit, which is among the most bitter of all vegetables. English names for the plant and its fruit include bitter melon or bitter gourd (translated from Chinese: 苦瓜; pinyin: kǔguā), in Jamaica it is generally known as cerasse, in Indonesia, it is known as pare. The original home of the species is not known, other than that it is a native of the tropics. It is widely grown in South and Southeast Asia, China, Africa, and the Caribbean.

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Description

The herbaceous, tendril-bearing vine grows to 5 m. It bears simple, alternate leaves 4-12 cm across, with 3-7 deeply separated lobes. Each plant bears separate yellow male and female flowers.

The fruit has a distinct warty looking exterior and an oblong shape. It is hollow in cross-section, with a relatively thin layer of flesh surrounding a central seed cavity filled with large flat seeds and pith. Seeds and pith appear white in unripe fruits, ripening to red; they are NOT intensely bitter and can be removed before cooking. However, the pith will become sweet when the fruit is fully ripen, and the pith's color will turn red. The pith can be eaten uncooked in this state, but the flesh of the melon will be far too tough to be eaten anymore. Red and sweet bitter melon pith is a popular ingredient in some special southeast Asian style salad. The flesh is crunchy and watery in texture, similar to cucumber, chayote or green bell pepper. The skin is tender and edible. The fruit is most often eaten green. Although it can also be eaten when it has started to ripen and turn yellowish, it becomes more bitter as it ripens. The fully ripe fruit turns orange and mushy, is too bitter to eat, and splits into segments which curl back dramatically to expose seeds covered in bright red pulp.

Bitter melon comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. The typical Chinese phenotype is 20 to 30 cm long, oblong with bluntly tapering ends and pale green in color, with a gently undulating, warty surface. The bitter melon more typical of India has a narrower shape with pointed ends, and a surface covered with jagged, triangular "teeth" and ridges. Coloration is green or white. Between these two extremes are any number of intermediate forms. Some bear miniature fruit of only 6 - 10 cm in length, which may be served individually as stuffed vegetables. These miniature fruit are popular in Southeast Asia as well as India.

Culinary uses

Bitter melons are seldom mixed with other vegetables due to the strong bitter taste, although this can be moderated to some extent by salting and then washing the cut melon before use.

Bitter melon is often used in Chinese cooking for its bitter flavor, typically in stir-fries (often with pork and douchi), soups, and also as tea.

It is also a popular vegetable in Indian cooking, where it is often prepared with potatoes and served with yogurt on the side to offset the bitterness, or used in sabji. Bitter melon fried in oil and then stuffed with other spicy ingredients is very popular in Andhra Pradesh, a south Indian state.

Bitter melon is rarely used in mainland Japan, but is a significant component of Okinawan cuisine.

In Indonesia, bitter melon is prepared in various dishes, such as stir fry, cooked in coconut milk, or steamed.

In Vietnam, raw bitter melon slices consumed with dried meat floss and bitter melon soup with shrimp are popular dishes.

It is prepared into various dishes in the Philippines, where it is known as ampalaya. Ampalaya may also be stir-fried with ground beef and oyster sauce, or with eggs and diced tomato. A very popular dish from the Ilocos region of the Philippines, pinakbet, consists mainly of bitter melons, eggplant, okra, string beans, tomatoes, lima beans, and other various regional vegetables stewed with a little bagoong-based stock.

The young shoots and leaves may also be eaten as greens; in the Philippines, where bitter melon leaves are most commonly consumed, they are called dahon (leaves) ng ampalaya. The seeds can also be eaten, and give off a sweet taste, but have been known to cause vomiting and stomach upset.

In Nepal bitter melon is prepared in various ways. Most prepare it as fresh achar (a type of salsa). For this the bitter gourd is cut into cubes or slices and sautéed covered in little bit of oil and sprinkle of water. When it is softened and water dries out, it is minced in tradition mortar with few cloves of garlic, salt and red or green pepper. Other way is the sautéed version. In this, bitter gourd is cut in thin round slices or cubes fried(sauted) with very less oil with some salt, cumin and red chili. It is fried until the vegetable softens and with hints of golden brown on the sides. It is even prepared as a curry on its own or with potato and made as stuffed vegetables.

In Pakistan bitter melon is available in the summertime and is cooked mostly with lots of onions. A traditional way to cook bitter melon curry is, to peel off the skin and cut into thin slices. Then it is salted and kept under the sun for few hours to reduce its bitterness to some extent. After few hours, its salty and bitter water is squeezed out (by pressing with the hands) and then bitter melon is washed with water for few times. The bitter melon is fried in cooking oil in a separate pan whereas lots of onions are fried in another pan. When onions are turned little pink in color, the fried bitter melon is added to them. After some frying both the onions and bitter melon, red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder and a pinch of cumin seeds are added. Now little water is sprinkled while frying the spices. Then a good amount of tomatoes is added to the curry and also the green chillies are added if one likes to. Now the pan is covered with a lid and heat is reduced to minimum so the tomatoes get tender and all spices could work their magic. The curry is stirred or fried for few times (at intervals) during this covering period. After half an hour or before, the curry is ready to serve. It is served with soft and hot flat breads (chappatis, چپاتی) and yogurt chutney.

Another dish in Pakistan calls for whole, unpeeled bitter melon to be boiled and then stuffed with cooked ground beef. In this dish, it is recommended that the bitter melon be left 'debittered'. It is either served with hot tandoori bread, naan, chappati, or with khichri (a mixture of lentils and rice).

Medicinal uses

Bitter melons have been used in various Asian traditional medicine systems for a long time [1]. Like most bitter-tasting foods, bitter melon stimulates digestion. While this can be helpful in people with sluggish digestion, dyspepsia, and constipation, it can sometimes make heartburn and ulcers worse. The fact that bitter melon is also a demulcent and at least mild inflammation modulator, however, means that it rarely does have these negative effects, based on clinical experience and traditional reports.

Though it has been claimed that bitter melon’s bitterness comes from quinine,[2] no evidence could be located supporting this claim. Bitter melon is traditionally regarded by Asians, as well as Panamanians and Colombians, as useful for preventing and treating malaria. Laboratory studies have confirmed that various species of bitter melon have anti-malarial activity, though human studies have not yet been published [3].

Laboratory tests suggest that compounds in bitter melon might be effective for treating HIV infection [4]. As most compounds isolated from bitter melon that impact HIV have either been proteins or glycoproteins lectins), neither of which are well-absorbed, it is unlikely that oral intake of bitter melon will slow HIV in infected people. It is possible oral ingestion of bitter melon could offset negative effects of anti-HIV drugs, if a test tube study can be shown to be applicable to people [5]. In one preliminary clinical trial, an enema form of a bitter melon extract showed some benefits in people infected with HIV (Zhang 1992). Clearly more research is necessary before this could be recommended.

The other realm showing the most promise related to bitter melon is as an immunomodulator. One clinical trial found very limited evidence that bitter melon might improve immune cell function in people with cancer, but this needs to be verified and amplified in other research [6]. If proven correct this is another way bitter melon could help people infected with HIV.

Some claim bitter melon as "a cure for diabetes", although outside of anecdotal stories scientific evidence for this claim is limited. Studies so far demonstrate improvement but not cure in some diabetic parameters.^{[1][2][3] [4] [5]}

Various cautions are indicated. The seeds contains vicine and therefore can trigger symptoms of favism in susceptible individuals. In addition, the red arils of the seeds are reported to be toxic to children, and the fruit is contraindicated during pregnancy.^[6]

Names in other languages

  Austronesian languages

• Chavacano: amargozo
• Ilocano: paria
• Malay and Indonesian: peria, pare, or parai
• Tagalog: ampalaya

Indian languages

• Kannada: hāgala kāyi
• Malayalam: kaipakka or pavakkya
• Tamil: pākaṛkāi or pavakka
• Telugu: kākara kāyi
• Tulu: kānchaal
• Bengali: করল্লা kôrolla
• Bishnupriya Manipuri: কারল karol
• Gujarati: કારેલું kāreluṃ
• Hindi: करेला karelā
• Konkani: kārate
• Marathi: कारले karla
• Nepali: tito karela
• Oriya: kalara
• Punjabi: karaila
• Sinhalese: karawila
• Trinidad Hindi: karailī
• Urdu کریلا karelā

Japonic languages

• Japanese: nigauri (苦瓜, nigauri^?), tsurureishi (蔓茘枝, tsurureishi^?), usually gōya (ゴーヤ, gōya^?)
• Okinawan: gōyā

Sino-Tibetan languages

• Mandarin: 苦瓜 kǔ guā
• Taiwanese (Min Nan): 苦瓜 ko guai
• Burmese: kyethinkhathee

Other languages

• Arabic: حَنضل hanzal
• Korean: 여주 yôju
• Persian: کمبوزه komboze
• Portuguese: melão-de-são-caetano
• Spanish: carela
• Thai: มะระจีน marajin or มะระ mara
• Vietnamese: khổ qua (southern dialect), mướp đắng (northern dialect)

Trivia

• A "bitter Gourd face" (苦瓜臉) is a common Chinese description for a serious or sad face.

References

1. ^ (1999 Oct) "Antidiabetic and hypolipidemic effects of Momordica cymbalaria Hook. fruit powder in alloxan-diabetic rats.". J Ethnopharmacol.;():. 67 (1): 103-9. PMID: 10616966.
2. ^ (2003 Sep) "Antihyperglycemic effects of three extracts from Momordica charantia.". J Ethnopharmacol.;(): 88 (1): 107-11. PMID: 12902059.
3. ^ (2005 Sep) "Effect of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) on glycaemic status in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats.". Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 60 (3): 109-12. PMID: 16187012.
4. ^ (2006 Jul) "Bitter gourd (Momordica Charantia): A dietary approach to hyperglycemia.". Nutr Rev. 64 (7 Pt 1): 331-7. PMID: 16910221.
5. ^ (2001 Oct) "Hypoglycemic activity of the fruit of the Momordica charantia in type 2 diabetic mice.". J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo).;(): 47 (5): 340-4. PMID: 11814149.
6. ^ About Herbs: Bitter Melon. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.

• Abascal K, Yarnell E (2005) "Using bitter melon to treat diabetes" Altern Complemen Ther 11(4):179-184

• H.K.Bakhru (1997). Foods that Heal. The Natural Way to Good Health. Orient Paperbacks. ISBN 81-222-0033-8. 

• Baldwa VS, Bhandari CM, Pangaria A, Goyal RK (1977) “Clinical trial in patients with diabetes mellitus of an insulin-like compound obtained from plant source” Upsala J Med Sci 82:39-41.