Bitter
Melon Powder Extract 
Product
Name : Bitter
Melon
Powder Extract
Latin Name: Momordica
charantia
Chinese
Name: Ku
gua
Specification: 10:1
Country of Origin :China
The
plant Momordica charantia belongs to the family cucuritaceae and is
commonly known as bitter melon. Bitter melon grows in tropical and
subtropic areas, including parts of East Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and
South America, where it is used as a food as well as a medicine. It
produces beautiful flowers and prickly fruit .The fruit of this plant
lives up to its name—it tastes bitter. Although the seeds, leaves, and
vines of bitter melon have all been used, the fruit is the safest and most
prevalent part of the plant used medicinally. The juice of the leaves and
fruit or seeds is used as an anthelmintic. In Brazil, the dose for
anthelmintic use is two or three seeds. The immature fruit of M.charantia
tastes bitter due to the cucurbitacius. Cucurbitacius is comprised of a
group of triterpenes including momordicosides, A-E, K, L, and momardicius
I, II and III. The roots and fruit are used as an abortifacient.
History
In
traditional herbal medicine, bitter melon is thought to stimulate
digestive function and improve appetite. This has yet to be tested in
human studies.Being a relatively common food item, bitter melon was
traditionally used for an array of conditions by people in tropical
regions. Numerous infections, cancer, and diabetes are among the most
common conditions it was purported to improve.1 Unripe fruit,
seeds and aerial parts of Momordica
charantia Linn. have been used in various parts of the world to treat
diabetes. The leaves and fruit have both been used to make teas and beer
or to season soups in the Western world. Nowadays Bitter Melon capsules
and tinctures are widely available in the Western world where in herbal
medicine they are being used for diabetes, HIV and other viruses, colds
and flu and psoriasis.
Function
1.
Anti-diabetic Activity
Bittermelon
contains steroidal saponins known as charantin, insulin-like peptides and
alkaloids, which gives it hypoglycemic ability. 2 Charantin
stimulates the release of insulin and blocks the formation of glucose in
the bloodstream, which may be helpful in the treatment of diabetes particularly
in non-insulin dependent diabetes. The hypoglycemic effect
is attributed to two factors: (1)Charantin- a crystalline fraction
obtained from an alcoholic extract of the fruit. Charantin administered at
a 50mg/kg dose reduced hyperglycemia in rabbits by 42%. Charantin posesses
pancreatic and extra-pancreatic action, and has a slight antispasmodic and
anticholinergic effect. (2)P-isulin (or v-insulin, for vegetable insulin).
This is a large polypeptide structurally and pharmacologically comparable
to bovine insulin. The p-insulin is composed of two polypeptide chains
bound together by disulphide bonds. Subcutaneous and intramuscular
administration of p-insulin produced hypoglysemic effects in diabetic
patients, the peak effect was observed after 4-8 hours as compared to 2
hours for bovine insulin.3
2.
Anti-virus activity and etc.
Extracts
standardized have proven efficacy in psoriasis, cancer
infections, pain from neurological complications, and may delay the onset
of cataracts or retinopathy and inhibit the AIDS virus through destroying
viral DNA. The anti-cancer property is due in part to an enhancement of
immune function. Study has shown that bitter melon extracts suppressed
lymphocyte proliferation and macrophage and lymphocyte activity.4
The
antidiabetic effects of M.Charantica are clearly demonstrated using a
streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mellites in the rabbit. The STZ
induces an increase in blood sugar accompanied with an increase in blood
urea, serum creatinine, serum cholesterol, free fatty acids, and a fall in
glycogen reserve in the liver and loss of body weight. Ground bitter melon
seed given with the rabbit food has a hypoglycemic effect on blood sugar
levels which is accompanied by hypolipemic. The Beta-cells of the pancreas
were activated by this treatment. Alloxan induces diabetes by destroying
all B-cells of the pancreas. This indicates that the bitter melon
hypoglycemic activity may work to some extent via these cells. This is
partially supported through experiments conducted by Welihuida and
co-workers. These researchers demonstrated that an aqueous extract of an
unripe fruit of bitter melon is a potent stimulator of insulin release
from B-cells of the pancreas.
In a clinic research carried out to evaluate the effect of Momordica
charantia on the glucose tolerance of maturity onset diabetic patients,
The standardized extract of Momordia charantia was found to significantly
improve the glucose tolerance of 73% of the patients investigated while
the other 27% failed to respond. 5
Dosage:
Chemistry
2. Raman A, Lau C. Anti-diabetic properties and phytochemistry of
Momordica charantia L (Curcurbitaceae). Phytomed Res 1996;2:349–62.
3. Zhang QC. Preliminary report on the use of Momordica charantia extract
by HIV patients. J Naturopathic Med 1992;3:65–9.
4. Werbach MR, Murray MT. Botanical Influences on Illness.
Tarzana, CA: Third Line Press, 1994, 139–41.
5. Brown DJ, Gaby A, Reichert R, Yarrell E. Phytotherapeutic and
nutritional approaches to diabetes
mellitus. Quart Rev Nat Med 1998;Winter:329–54.
5.Cunnick,
J. and Takemato, D. (1993) Journal of Naturopathic Medicine. 4(1) : 16-21
2. Sucrow, W. (1965) Tetrahedron Letters, 26:2217-2221. 3. Lotlikar, M.M.
and Rajarama Rao, M.R. (1966) Ind. J. Pharmacy, 28:129-133.
6.
Leatherdale, B.A. et-al (1981). “lmprovement in glucose tolerance due to
Momordica charantin”. Br. Med.J. 282: 1823-1824
