Momordica charantia L. (Bitter gourd) is a flowering vine in the family of Cucurbitaceae. It contains an array of novel and biologically active phytochemicals including triterpenes, proteins and steroids. Medicinally, the plant has a long history of use by the indigenous people as a folk medicine. Bitter gourd is often used in Chinese cooking for its bitter flavor, typically in stir-fries, soups, and also as tea. Pakistan, Philippines, Panama and Nepal also use this bitter vegetable for culinary purposes in addition to India. Several medicinal properties of the bitter gourd have been studied by various researchers, such as anti-diabetic, anti-ulcerogenic, anti-mutagenic, antioxidant, anti-tumour, anti-lipolytic, analgesic, abortifacient, anti-viral, hypoglycemic and immunomodulatory. In vitro studies reveals that the bitter gourd proteins (α-and β-monorcharin) have inhibitory effect against HIV virus, and leaf extracts have broad-spectrum anti-microbial activity as well. Many in vivo studies have demonstrated the relatively low toxicity of all parts of the bitter gourd plant when ingested orally. This review also addresses taxonomy, phytochemical, culinary practices and pharmacological properties in detail. Over the years scientists have verified many of the traditional uses of this bitter plant that continues to be an important natural remedy in herbal medicine systems. Bitter gourd products such as concentrated fruit and seed extracts can be found in capsules and tablets, as well as in whole herb/vine powder forms and these supplements are becoming more widely available in many countries nowadays as prophylactic or therapeutic agents.
| Published in | International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.21 |
| Page(s) | 75-83 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Momordica Charantia, Phytochemistry, Nutrition, Pharmacology, Medicinal Importance
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APA Style
Kandangath Raghavan Anilakumar, Garlapati Phani Kumar, Nallamuthu Ilaiyaraja. (2015). Nutritional, Pharmacological and Medicinal Properties of Momordica Charantia. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences, 4(1), 75-83. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.21
ACS Style
Kandangath Raghavan Anilakumar; Garlapati Phani Kumar; Nallamuthu Ilaiyaraja. Nutritional, Pharmacological and Medicinal Properties of Momordica Charantia. Int. J. Nutr. Food Sci. 2015, 4(1), 75-83. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.21
AMA Style
Kandangath Raghavan Anilakumar, Garlapati Phani Kumar, Nallamuthu Ilaiyaraja. Nutritional, Pharmacological and Medicinal Properties of Momordica Charantia. Int J Nutr Food Sci. 2015;4(1):75-83. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.21
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.21,
author = {Kandangath Raghavan Anilakumar and Garlapati Phani Kumar and Nallamuthu Ilaiyaraja},
title = {Nutritional, Pharmacological and Medicinal Properties of Momordica Charantia},
journal = {International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences},
volume = {4},
number = {1},
pages = {75-83},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.21},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.21},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnfs.20150401.21},
abstract = {Momordica charantia L. (Bitter gourd) is a flowering vine in the family of Cucurbitaceae. It contains an array of novel and biologically active phytochemicals including triterpenes, proteins and steroids. Medicinally, the plant has a long history of use by the indigenous people as a folk medicine. Bitter gourd is often used in Chinese cooking for its bitter flavor, typically in stir-fries, soups, and also as tea. Pakistan, Philippines, Panama and Nepal also use this bitter vegetable for culinary purposes in addition to India. Several medicinal properties of the bitter gourd have been studied by various researchers, such as anti-diabetic, anti-ulcerogenic, anti-mutagenic, antioxidant, anti-tumour, anti-lipolytic, analgesic, abortifacient, anti-viral, hypoglycemic and immunomodulatory. In vitro studies reveals that the bitter gourd proteins (α-and β-monorcharin) have inhibitory effect against HIV virus, and leaf extracts have broad-spectrum anti-microbial activity as well. Many in vivo studies have demonstrated the relatively low toxicity of all parts of the bitter gourd plant when ingested orally. This review also addresses taxonomy, phytochemical, culinary practices and pharmacological properties in detail. Over the years scientists have verified many of the traditional uses of this bitter plant that continues to be an important natural remedy in herbal medicine systems. Bitter gourd products such as concentrated fruit and seed extracts can be found in capsules and tablets, as well as in whole herb/vine powder forms and these supplements are becoming more widely available in many countries nowadays as prophylactic or therapeutic agents.},
year = {2015}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Nutritional, Pharmacological and Medicinal Properties of Momordica Charantia AU - Kandangath Raghavan Anilakumar AU - Garlapati Phani Kumar AU - Nallamuthu Ilaiyaraja Y1 - 2015/02/10 PY - 2015 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.21 DO - 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.21 T2 - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences JF - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences JO - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences SP - 75 EP - 83 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2327-2716 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.21 AB - Momordica charantia L. (Bitter gourd) is a flowering vine in the family of Cucurbitaceae. It contains an array of novel and biologically active phytochemicals including triterpenes, proteins and steroids. Medicinally, the plant has a long history of use by the indigenous people as a folk medicine. Bitter gourd is often used in Chinese cooking for its bitter flavor, typically in stir-fries, soups, and also as tea. Pakistan, Philippines, Panama and Nepal also use this bitter vegetable for culinary purposes in addition to India. Several medicinal properties of the bitter gourd have been studied by various researchers, such as anti-diabetic, anti-ulcerogenic, anti-mutagenic, antioxidant, anti-tumour, anti-lipolytic, analgesic, abortifacient, anti-viral, hypoglycemic and immunomodulatory. In vitro studies reveals that the bitter gourd proteins (α-and β-monorcharin) have inhibitory effect against HIV virus, and leaf extracts have broad-spectrum anti-microbial activity as well. Many in vivo studies have demonstrated the relatively low toxicity of all parts of the bitter gourd plant when ingested orally. This review also addresses taxonomy, phytochemical, culinary practices and pharmacological properties in detail. Over the years scientists have verified many of the traditional uses of this bitter plant that continues to be an important natural remedy in herbal medicine systems. Bitter gourd products such as concentrated fruit and seed extracts can be found in capsules and tablets, as well as in whole herb/vine powder forms and these supplements are becoming more widely available in many countries nowadays as prophylactic or therapeutic agents. VL - 4 IS - 1 ER -
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