The bitter gourd genus Momordica comprises 47 species in Africa and 12 in Asia and Australia. All have unisexual flowers, and of the African species, 24 are dioecious, 23 monoecious, while all Asian species are dioecious. Maximum likelihood analyses of 6257 aligned nucleotides of plastid, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA obtained for 122 accessions of Momordica and seven outgroups show that Momord...

Momordica charantia (bitter gourd) has been used in the traditional system of medicine for the treatment of various diseases. Anticancer activity of M. charantia extracts has been demonstrated by numerous in vitro and in vivo studies. In the present study, we investigated the differentiation inducing potential of fractionated M. charantia seed extracts in human myeloid HL60 cells. We found that...

Diabetes is one of the major life threatening diseases worldwide. It creates major health problems in urban India. Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 (GSK-3) protein of human is known for phosphorylating and inactivating glycogen synthase which also acts as a negative regulator in the hormonal control of glucose homeostasis. In traditional medicine, Momordica charantia is used as antidiabetic plant bec...

The antidiabetic activity of Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae) with exercise was investigated in KK-Ay mice, an animal model with type 2 diabetes with hyperinsulinemia. The water extract of the fruit of Momordica charantia L. (MC) with exercise reduced the blood glucose of KK-Ay mice 5 weeks after oral administration (p<0.001), and also significantly lowered the plasma insulin of KK-Ay mic...

Lactobacillus plantarum BET003 isolated from Momordica charantia fruit was used to ferment its juice. Momordica charantia fresh juice was able to support good growth of the lactic acid bacterium. High growth rate and cell viability were obtained without further nutrient supplementation. In stirred tank reactor batch fermentation, agitation rate showed significant effect on specific growth rate ...

Bitter melon ( Momordica charantia Linnaeus) fruit extract was tested against 3,4 benzo(a)pyrene [B(a)P] induced forestomach papillomagenesis in Swiss albino mice. Extract of M. charantia in two concentrations, 2.5 and 5% of standard mice feed was used for the short-term and long-term studies. A significant decrease in tumour burden was observed in short and long-term treatment. Also, total tum...

background: there is yet a dearth of literature on the antifertility effect of momordica charantia on the male reproductive system. the aim of this study was to determine the effect of graded oral doses of methanolic seed extract of momordica charantia on the histology of prostate gland and seminiferous tubules of rats. methods: forty male sprague-dawley rats, weighing 176±7 g were assigned ran...

Protein synthesis by a rabbit reticulocyte lysate is inhibited by the haemagglutinating lectins from Momordica charantia and Crotalaria juncea seeds and from the roe of Rutilus rutilus, and by a commercial preparation of the mitogenic lectin from Phytolacca americana. The haemagglutinins from the seeds of Ricinus communis and of Vicia cracca acquired inhibitory activity after their reduction wi...

the hypoglycemic effect of the ethanolic extract of Momordica charantia (cucurbitaceae) was investigated in both normal and streptozotocin - induced diabetic mice. The ethanolic extract of Unriped fruits of M. charantia (800mg/kg) reduced the blood glucose of normal mice from 172 ±3 to 136 ± 5 mg/100ml 4 hours after intrapertitoneal administration (P<0.001), and also significantly lowered the b...