Bitter melon

Authors:Prof. Dr. med. Peter Altmeyer, Prof. Dr. med. Martina Bacharach-Buhles

All authors of this article

Last updated on: 29.10.2020

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Synonym(s)

Balsamic pear; balsam-pear (engl.); Bitter Cucumber; bitter gherkin; bitterly gourmand; bitter melon; bitter squash; Momordica charantia L.

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DefinitionThis section has been translated automatically.

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.), also called bitter cucumber, is a tropical plant from the Cucurbitaceae family (cucurbits). The plant is mainly cultivated in Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean and is known in Japan as Gōyā, in Sanskrit as Karela, in Malayalam as Pavaykka.

The shoots of the bitter melon are up to five metres long, its leaves are 0.5 to 7 cm long with stalk; its leaf blade is 1 to 10 cm long and 1 to 12.5 cm wide. The flowers of the bitter melon are solitary and are light to dark yellow in colour.
The fruit of the bitter melon is between 2.5 and 4.8 (in rare cases up to 11) cm long and 1.5 to 2.3 (in rare cases 4) cm wide. The fruits are oval or elliptical in shape. When ripe, they are a bright orange-red colour.

Note(s)This section has been translated automatically.

The bitter melon is the parent plant of Momordicae charantiae fructus

Authors

Last updated on: 29.10.2020

Authors: Prof. Dr. med. Peter AltmeyerProf. Dr. med. Martina Bacharach-Buhles