The development of effective and safe anti-diabetic agent is still a major challenge for modern scientific research. Traditionally fruit juice of Momordica charantia has been used for treatment of diabetes for centuries. Charantin, a natural steroidal glycoside present in the fruits of this medicinal plant, has been reported to possess potential hypoglycemic activity. However, this phytoconstit...

Momordica charantia (Family: Cucurbitales), as known as bitter melon or gourd, is a daily consumption as food and traditional medicinal plant in Southeast Asia and Indo-China. It has been shown to possess anticancer, antidepressant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiobesity, antioxidant, and antiulcer properties. Its common phytochemical components include alkaloids, charantin...

The inhibitory effects of Momordica charantia extracts were studied on the uptake of glucose and tyrosine across rat everted gut sacs in vitro. The aqueous extract of the plant was found to inhibit primarily the uptake of glucose in a dose-dependent manner. Uptake of tyrosine was affected at high substrate concentrations only. The extract was also found to decrease the absorptive capacity of fl...

The association constants for the binding of a series of ligands with a galactose-specific lectin from Momordica charantia (bitter gourd) has been determined through the ligand-induced quenching of protein fluorescence. Analysis of the iodide quenching suggested that there is a slight increase in the accessibility of tryptophan residues of the lectin on binding lactose.

Acetone extract of whole fruit powder of Momordica charantia a given orally daily lowered the blood sugar and serum cholesterol levels to normal range after 15 to 30 days in alloxan diabetic rats. The blood sugar once lowered after 30 days treatment did not increase even after 15 days of discontinuation of the treatment.

Alpha-momorcharin (α-MMC) and momordica anti-HIV protein (MAP30) from Momordica charantia L. have been confirmed to possess anti-tumor and anti-virus activities. Traditional purification methods of these two ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) were separate which was time consuming and cost effective as well as low efficient. In order to obtain sufficient samples for researches, a strategy co...

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder in the endocrine system. This dreadful disease is found in all parts of the world and is becoming a serious threat to mankind health. There are lots of chemical agents available to control and to treat diabetic patients, but total recovery from diabetes has not been reported up to this date. Alternative to these synthetic agents, plants provide a potent...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dried Momordica charantia aqueous extracts (MCA) and ethanol extracts (MCE) on obesity and lipid profiles in mice fed a high-fat diet. MATERIALS/METHODS Forty two ICR mice were randomly divided into six groups. The normal group was fed a basal diet, and other groups were fed a 45% high-fat diet (HFD) for 7 wee...

© 2013 Limtrakul et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Kuguacin J, a Triterpenoid from Momordica charantia Linn: A Comprehensive Review o...

The mechanism of action of the antidiabetic capacity of Momordica charantia is still under investigation. Here, we assessed phytochemical compositions, antioxidant activity, and effects of total and filtered fruit and leafy stem juices of Momordica charantia on human T cell proliferation and differentiation through quantification of Th1/Th2 cytokines. In the absence of stimulation, total fruit ...