Family Name: CUCURBITACEAE
Scientific Name: Momordica charantia L.
Common Name: Balsam apple, Balsam pear, Bitter cucumber, Bitter gourd, Bitter melon, Carilla fruit
Local Thai Name: มะระขี้นก, มะระเล็ก (ทั่วไป) ผักไห่, มะห่วน, ผักไซ(ภาคเหนือ) ระ (ภาพใต้) ผักสะไล, ผักไส่ (ภาคอีสาน)
This plant is in the herbaceous family, and is a vine, similar to gourd and cucumber. Bitter melon is one of two types of bitter melon that are popular in Thailand, namely Chinese bitter melon and bird's eye bitter melon.
Bitter melon has smaller and more bitter fruits than Chinese bitter melon. The bitter taste of bitter melon comes from a chemical called Momodicine. Most people like to eat bitter melon fresh with chili paste or blanch it before eating. If you can tolerate the green smell and bitter taste, you can also juice or blend it into a drink.
100 grams of bitter melon has:
- 17 kilocalories
- 1 grams of fat
- 12 grams of fiber
- 9 grams of carbohydrates
- 3 miligrams of calcium
- 2.9 grams of protein
- 140 miligrams of phosphorus
- 9.4 miligrams of iron
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin B2
- Vitamin C
- Thiamine
Medicinal properties of bitter melon
- leaves : Bitter taste, squeeze out the juice to drink to treat inflammation of the bile ducts, help with appetite, reduce fever, reduce body heat, reduce heat toxins, treat liver and spleen disorders, treat mouth ulcers. Fresh bitter leaves can be boiled or boiled and taken as a blood purifier, laxative, pinworm remover, appetite stimulant, or dried leaves can be crushed, mixed with water and taken as a worm-repelling, gas-repelling, and elemental tonic.
- fresh leaves and fruits: Bitter taste, finely ground, squeezed to extract the juice and drink as a medicine to relieve colic, flatulence, stimulate appetite, nourish the elements, and help expel worms and treat inflammation of the bile ducts.
- flower : Bitter and hot taste, brewed as a drink to relieve asthma, poisoning, and dysentery.
- unripe fruit Very bitter taste. Eat to nourish bile, stimulate appetite, nourish the body, and cure liver and spleen. Inflammation, expels worms, relieves pain and inflammation from various toxins, is a mild laxative, squeeze the juice to gargle to relieve mouth ulcers, cut and dry, mix with water to drink to treat diabetes, fresh fruit has a very bitter taste, young fruit has a very high vitamin C content, boil or use in cooking, boil water to drink to relieve fever, reduce the occurrence of cataracts, has value in helping to treat diabetes, nourish the elements, treat mouth ulcers, nourish bile, stimulate appetite, nourish menstrual blood, treat liver and spleen inflammation, expels worms, relieves gas in the joints, is a mild laxative, or use the dried fruit, grind it finely, sprinkle on the wound, apply to relieve itching, treat toxins from abscesses, reduce swelling, fight viruses and cancer.
- ripe fruit : it is mildly toxic, contains a lot of saponin, causing diarrhea and vomiting, scabies, skin diseases.
- seeds : Bitter taste, antidote to poison, aphrodisiac, increase vital energy, nourish the elements, strengthen the body, and expel roundworms.
- roots : Bitter taste, used as a tonic, astringent, hemorrhoid treatment, elemental medicine, fever treatment, heat toxin treatment, dysentery treatment, bloody bowel movement, hemorrhoid treatment, abscess and inflammation, toothache caused by heat wind, wound healing, element control, element nourishment.
- Vines : Nourishes bile, mild laxative, neutralizes bile and blood toxins, corrects bile disorders, cures all toxins, stimulates appetite, cures wind in joints, swollen feet, cures pain in the joints of fingers and toes, cures spleen diseases, cures liver diseases, expels intestinal parasites, cures bile disorders, removes phlegm, cures dysentery, cures abscesses, cures toothaches, cures fevers.
- leaves and roots : Bitter taste, cures diabetes.
Bitter melon and diabetes, a remarkable herb that can reduce blood sugar levels very well
Bitter melon contains Charatin, which can help reduce blood sugar and counteract the symptoms of diabetes in several ways, including:
- Helps increase insulin secretion from the pancreas.
- Reduces sugar production from the liver.
- Stimulates sugar metabolism.
- Increase tolerance to glucose.
- Inhibits glucose secretion in the small intestine.
- Inhibits the enzyme glucosidase, which is the cause of diabetes.
Bitter melon can slow down kidney disorders and nerve degeneration in the body caused by high blood sugar levels accumulated over a long period of time. It also helps slow down the development of cataracts in diabetic patients. If eaten regularly, it can also control blood sugar levels to be normal.
Reference:
- อ.โชติอนันต์ และคณะ. (2551). สมุนไพรไทย สำหรับงานสาธารณสุขมูลฐาน. หน้า 194.
- สำนักงานกองทุนสนับสนุนการสร้างเสริมสุขภาพ. มะระขี้นช่วยต้านเบาหวาน [บทความออนไลน์.] เข้าถึงได้จาก https://www.thaihealth.or.th
- สุภาภรณ์ , อำนาจ , ณัฐดนัย. วารสารเภสัชกรรม. ประสิทธิผลของแคปซูลมะระขี้นกต่อการควบคุมระดับน้ำตาลในเลือดในอาสาสมัครที่มีภาวะก่อนเบาหวาน, 2564.
