Bitter gourd and its anti diabetic properties

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is an important market vegetable in Southern and

Eastern Asia and is widely spread throughout most of tropical Africa [1]. It is also referred
to as bitter melon, balsam pear, bitter apple, and bitter African or wild cucumber [1]. Fruits
and leaves of most wild Momordica species are consumed as vegetables and have a similar
bitter taste and almost identical medical uses. It has been used as a traditional antidiabetic
remedy in eastern countries for many years [2]. It is now commercially available as tea
(from fruits or leaves), juice, extracts, and tablets. Although these products promise health
benefits, most of the manufacturers do not provide scientific evidence on the effectiveness
of bitter gourd or their products. However, in recent years researchers have focused on the
antidiabetic effects of bitter gourd. The goals of these studies are to provide safe and clear
preparation and dosage recommendations.

This article provides information about the nutritional importance of bitter gourd as a
vegetable and scientific evidence about its anti-diabetic properties.

[13]

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Bitter gourd is a popular vegetable in some Asian countries. Fresh bitter gourd is used as a
nourishing food. It contains: 93.8% water, 0.9% protein, 0.1% lipid, 3.3% dietary fiber, 20
kJ energy per 100 g, and a small quantity, 0.05%, of vitamin C [3]. It is a good source of
phenolic compounds [3].
The immature fruits of bitter gourd can be prepared in many ways such as frying or
cooking as curries. In addition, fruits can be dehydrated, pickled or canned [1]. They are
usually blanched or soaked in salt water before cooking to reduce the bitter taste. Study
suggests that incorporating bitter foods in commonly consumed food dishes can mask the
bitter taste of bitter gourd [4].

Does bitter gourd lower blood sugar levels?

Bitter gourd treatments of cell cultures or feeding trials with laboratory animals such as
mice or rats show bitter gourd does have blood glucose lowering properties. Most animal
studies have shown a blood glucose lowering effect of the fruit bitter gourd when fed orally
as a single dose [1]. The juice formulations of bitter gourd have proven to be more effective
in lowering blood sugar level and HbA1c levels than its dried fruit products [1]. Bitter
gourd has been shown to be effective in treating Type I diabetes in rats or mice by
increasing pancreatic insulin secretion [5].

Some preliminary evidence suggests that the consumption of bitter melon as whole fruit,
extract, or dried powder may reduce blood sugar levels [6]. In human studies with diabetes
patients, fresh bitter gourd juice was shown to significantly reduce plasma glucose
concentrations and improve response to an oral glucose load [1]. Bitter gourd may have
synergistic effects with oral hypoglycemics and it may aggraviate hypoglycemia in type 2
diabetes patients [6]. One of the most recent studies by Fuangchan et al. effectively
demonstrated the hypoglycemic effect of bitter melon among type 2 diabetic individuals
receiving 2,000 mg/day of dried bitter melon powder [7]. However, the hypoglycemic
effect of bitter melon was less than metformin 1,000 mg/day [7]. Recent studies show the
need for better-designed clinical trials with sufficient sample size and statistical power to

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further support the acclaimed efficacy of bitter gourd as a natural nutritional treatment for
diabetes mellitus [8].

The hypoglycemic potential components in bitter gourd have been identified as glycosides,
saponins, alkaloids, triterpenes, polysaccharides, proteins, and steroids [2]. Although
several pure chemicals were isolated from bitter melon and applied for investigating their
antidiabetic mechanisms, the mixture of these hypoglycemic chemicals such as saponins or
charantins seemed to present a significantly higher bioactivity [2]. The main active
component related to the anti-diabetic effect of Momordica charantia is present in the
butanol fraction, and it may be saponin [9]. Bitter gourd also contains a high dosage of
‘plant insulin’ and lowers the blood-sugar levels effectively [10, 11]. ‘Plant insulin’ refers to
the chemical substances similar to animal insulin existing in plants [12]. Polypeptide-p is
an unidentified insulin-like protein similar to bovine insulin found in M. charantia fruit,
seed, and tissue culture [1].

The antidiabetic mechanisms of bitter melon also have been proposed. Bitter gourd
reduces the amount of glucose that is released into the blood by inhibiting the enzymes
that break down disaccharides into two monosaccharides [9]. The blood glucose lowering
effects of Momordica charantia were closely associated with its inhibitory activity against
disaccharidase[9]. This effect is important for the treatment of both Type I and Type II
diabetic patients and helps to prevent high blood sugar levels after meals. Bitter melon has
shown to stimulate glycogen storage by liver and insulin secretion by islets of Langerhans
[2]. Evidence indicates that bitter melon may decrease hepatic gluconeogenesis, increase
hepatic glycogen synthesis, and increase peripheral glucose oxidation in erythrocytes and
adipocytes [15].

A number of adverse effects have been described for M. charantia. After drinking bitter
gourd tea, hypoglycemic coma and convulsions have been observed in children and
headache has been reported after ingestion of bitter gourd seeds [14]. However, no large
scale studies have been undertaken to assess the adverse effects.

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Bitter gourd has the potential to become a component of the diet or a dietary supplement
for diabetic and prediabetic patients [6]. In vitro and animal studies suggested its
hypoglycemic activity, but limited human studies are available to support its use. Since
diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition requiring long-term treatment, well designed,
longer and better powered randomised controlled trials are needed before a dietary
recommendation can be given and a product brought to the market.

Written By
Nirmala Weerakonda Arachchige (Provisional APD)
2014

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