Ku Gua, Liang gua, Ban sheng gua is also known as
bitter melon. The bitter and cold herb has been used in TCM as an
antivirus, anti-cancer, anti-malaria agent and to lower blood lipids and
blood sugar, treat , etc., as it clear heat, reduce toxins, etc. by
enhancing the function of heart, lung, spleen and stomach channels
Ingredients
1. 5α-Stigmasta-7,25-dien-3β-ol
2. 5-hydroxytryptamine
3. Alkaloids
4. α-Elaeostearic-acid
5. Ascorbigen
6. β-sitosterol-d-glucoside
7. Charantin
8. Cirulline
9. Cryptoxanthin (cryptoxanthol)
10. Elasterol
11. Flavochrome
12. Fluoride
13. Gamma-aminobutyric acid
14. Galacturonic acid
15. Lanosterol
16. Lutein
17. Lycopene
18. Momordicin
19. Etc.
Health Benefits
1. Cytotoxicity Activities
In the isolation of two new cucurbitane-type triterpene glycosides
called charantagenins D (1) and E (2) and one new sterol ,
7-oxo-stigmasta-5,25-diene-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3) have from the
fruit of momordica charantia L. together with eight known compounds,
showed significant cytotoxic activity against 3 cell lines and the
concentrations to inhibit 50% of cells (IC50) values of 1 to A549, U87
and Hep3B were much lower (1.07,1.08,14.01 μg/mL), according to”Structures
of New Triterpenoids and Cytotoxicity Activities of the Isolated Major
Compounds from the Fruit of Momordica charantia L” by Wang X, Sun W, Qu H, Cao J, Zhao Y, Bi X.(1)
2. Antioxidants
In the evaluation of the antioxidant activity of the total aqueous
extract (TAE) and total phenolic extract (TPE) of Momordica charantia
fruits, indicated that the extract at 50 microg/mL also had significant
and slightly protective effects on fibroblasts against H(2)O(2)- and
HX-XO-induced damage, respectively. RCF was more tolerant toward the
damage. For keratinocytes, a dose-dependent relationship of oxidant
toxicity was only seen with H(2)O(2) but the protective action of the
extract correlated with oxidant dosage. At 200 and 300 microg/mL TPE,
cytoprotection was dose-dependent against oxidants, according to “In vitro evaluation of antioxidants of fruit extract of Momordica charantia L. on fibroblasts and keratinocytes” by Kumar R, Balaji S, Sripriya R, Nithya N, Uma TS, Sehgal PK.(2)
3. Anti diabetes
In the examination of the effect of BM supplementation on cell size
and lipid metabolism in adipose tissues, showed that BM can reduce
insulin resistance as effective as the anti-diabetic drug TZD.
Furthermore, BM can suppress the visceral fat accumulation and inhibit
adipocyte hypertrophy, which may be associated with markedly down
regulated expressions of lipogenic genes in the adipose, according to “Bitter
melon (Momordica charantia L.) inhibits adipocyte hypertrophy and down
regulates lipogenic gene expression in adipose tissue of diet-induced
obese rats” by Huang HL, Hong YW, Wong YH, Chen YN, Chyuan JH, Huang CJ, Chao PM.(3)
4. Trypanocide, cytotoxic, and antifungal activities
In the evaluation of the extract of M. charantia for its
antiepimastigote, antifungal, and cytotoxic activities, found that the
effective concentration capable of killing 50% of parasites (IC(50)) was
46.06 µg/mL. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was ≤ 1024
µg/mL. Metronidazole showed a potentiation of its antifungal effect when
combined with an extract of M. charantia, according to “Trypanocide, cytotoxic, and antifungal activities of Momordica charantia”
by Santos KK, Matias EF, Sobral-Souza CE, Tintino SR, Morais-Braga MF,
Guedes GM, Santos FA, Sousa AC, Rolón M, Vega C, de Arias AR, Costa JG,
Menezes IR, Coutinho HD.(4)
5. Metabolic syndrome
In the investigation of whether bitter melon seed (BMS) alleviates
the symptoms associated with metabolic syndrome and elucidate the
mechanism by which BMS exerts beneficial effects, found that BMS
improves the serum and liver lipid profiles and serum glucose levels by
modulating PPAR-γ gene expression. To our knowledge, this study for the
first time shows that BMS exerts cardioprotective effects by
down-regulating the NF-κB inflammatory pathway, according to “Dietary
bitter melon seed increases peroxisome proliferator-activated
receptor-γ gene expression in adipose tissue, down-regulates the nuclear
factor-κB expression, and alleviates the symptoms associated with
metabolic syndrome” by Gadang V, Gilbert W, Hettiararchchy N, Horax R, Katwa L, Devareddy L.(5)
6. Antileishmania
In the determination of Aqueous extract of the green fruits of the
Indian plant Momordica charantia and purified Momordicatin structurally
established as 4-(o-carboethoxyphenyl) butanol in vitro and in vivo for
their effect against kala-azar caused by Leishmania donovani.
revealed that the mode of action of these newly found
antileishmanial agents is mediated through inhibiting parasite SOD which
is one of the key enzymes of the oxidative burst. It may be proposed
from the present study that both crude extract of Momordica charantia
and Momordicatin obtained from the fruits of the said plant may be
considered as potential candidates towards developing new
chemotherapeutics against leishmaniasis, according to “Momordicatin
purified from fruits of Momordica charantia is effective to act as a
potent antileishmania agent” by Gupta S, Raychaudhuri B, Banerjee S, Das
B, Mukhopadhaya S, Datta SC.(6)
7. Anti cancers
In the observation of methanol extracts from leaves of 51 plant
species from Brazilian plants collected in the State of Minas Geraiswere
for their cytotoxicity against four tumor cell lines: B16 (murine
skin), HL-60 (human leukemia), MCF-7 (human breast), and HCT-8 (human
colon) showed that The most active extracts against the tumor cells were
those obtained from Lantana fucata, Copaifera langsdorffii, and
Momordica charantia. These three extracts inhibited sea urchin
development from the first cleavage, but those from C. langsdorffii and
M. charantia were very active against mouse erythrocytes. Only the L.
fucata extract presented no hemolytic activity, according to “Evaluation of native and exotic Brazilian plants for anticancer activity”
by dos Santos Júnior HM, Oliveira DF, de Carvalho DA, Pinto JM, Campos
VA, Mourão AR, Pessoa C, de Moraes MO, Costa-Lotufo LV.(7)
8. Antiulcer activity
In the study of evaluation of the effect of standardized methanolic
extract of Momordica charantia L. fruits on gastric and duodenal ulcers,
revealed that The healing of acetic acid induced gastric ulcer was
increased by both doses of the extract. In pylorus-ligated rats, the
extract showed significant decrease in ulcer index, total acidity, free
acidity and pepsin content and an increase in gastric mucosal content.
The extract also reduced the ulcer index in stress induced, ethanol
induced and indomethacin induced gastric ulcers and cysteamine induced
duodenal ulcer, according to “Antiulcer activity of methanolic extract
of Momordica charantia L. in rats” by Alam S, Asad M, Asdaq SM, Prasad
VS.(8)
9. Etc.
Side Effects
1. Do not use the herb in newborn, children or if you are pregnant or
breast feeding with out approval first with the related field specialist
2. May not be used in case of kidney yang deficiency
3. Over odses can be toxic that lead to immunotoxicity and hepatotoxicity(a)
4. Etc.
(4)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22235885
(5)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21128828
(6)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20132905
(7)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20127421
(8)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19501279
