Bitter melon ∗ The big guide from A to Z

Characteristics

• Scientific name: Momordica charantia
• Family: Cucurbitaceae
• Synonyms: bitter gourd, balsam pear, balsam apple
• Type: herbaceous climber
• Occurrence: tropical regions
• Flower: yellow, fragrant
• leaf: palmate, lobed
• Fruit: tankberry
• Taste: tart-bitter
• Harvest time: 3 weeks after flowering
• Hardiness: not hardy
• Use: vegetable, medicinal plant

blossom

Like most cucurbits, bitter gourds thrive as monoecious, sexed plants. Male and female flowers grow on one individual. For the untrained Eye the two flower sexes can hardly be distinguished from each other. In June and July, the yellow, five-petaled flowers unfold and smell pleasantly of vanilla.

Sheet

Decorative leaves can be admired on the tendrils of a bitter melon plant, which can be up to 5 meters long. The sheet is characterized by the following features:

• shape: round-oval, palmately divided with 3 to 7 lobes
• petiole: 3 cm to 7 cm long
• leaf blade: 10 cm long, 12 cm wide
• color: green
• arrangement: alternate

fruit

One to three weeks after the flowering period, the fast-growing climbing plant bears the coveted fruit. These qualities characterize a bitter melon:

• shape: cucumber-like
• size: 5 cm to 40 cm long
• Peel: leathery, knobbed like warts
• color: green (unripe), later yellowish-orange (ripe)
• pulp: firm with cream, later red, sticky seeds
• taste: tart-bitter
• special feature: ripe fruit bursts open and releases the seeds

The unripe, green fruits are harvested for a long storage time and the best quality of enjoyment. Ripe, yellow-orange bitter gourds spoil the appetite with soft, cracked skins. In this phase, the bitter substances take over and the fruit is no longer suitable for consumption.

The bitterest fruit in the world - made in Japan

hardiness

Bitter gourds are grown as perennial climbing plants in the warm, humid climate of tropical regions. In our latitudes, the exotic pumpkin family is not hardy and is cultivated as an annual.

bitter melon effect

The peel, pulp and seeds contain various ingredients with pharmacological effects. It is primarily charantin, a substance whose blood-sugar-lowering effect has been known since the 15th century. century is known. In addition, the cucumber-like fruit is packed with valuable vitamins, proteins and minerals that underpin its status as a medicinal plant. The following table gives a selective insight into beneficial effects and names potential side effects:

Please note: The blood sugar lowering effects, weight loss aids and other medicinal properties of bitter melon are based so far on the traditions of Asian folk medicine, various animal models and observations of people on a smaller scale Scope. Well-founded clinical studies with medical evidence are not yet available. For this reason, preparations based on bitter melon are considered dietary supplements. This applies equally to seed extract, tea, capsules and other dosage forms. The side effects mentioned result mainly from animal experiments.

digression

Extract more effective than tea and capsules

Bitter Melon Recipes

On Okinawa, the legendary 'Island of the Centenarians', bitter gourds have a regular place on the menu. We looked over the shoulder of Japanese chefs and discovered two delicious bitter melon recipes for you:

Reduce bitter substances

Regardless of the later preparation, we recommend the following pre-treatment in advance in order to reduce the bitter substances of a fruit to a tasty level:

• Buy or harvest bitter melon in the immature, green stage
• Wash the fruit thoroughly
• Either peel roughly or use unpeeled
• Put the fruit whole or cut into pieces in salt

After 15 minutes in the salt bath, most of the bitter substances will have dissolved. Now rinse off the salt and dedicate yourself to the further preparation.

Fried bitter melon with egg

These ingredients are required for one serving: 1 bitter melon, 2 tablespoons sunflower oil, 1 egg, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 pinch of salt and 1 drop of soy sauce.

1. Halve the bitter melon lengthways
2. Remove the pulp and seeds with a spoon
3. Cut the fruit into thin slices
4. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves
5. Fry the garlic in hot oil in a pan
6. Add the bitter melon slices, fry until translucent, season with soy sauce and salt
7. Crack the egg, pour over the vegetables and leave to set over a low heat

Serve the dish in style with shokupan or simply with a crusty baguette.

Goya Champuru - Bitter Melon Stew

To prepare 2 servings, have these ingredients ready to hand: 1 bitter gourd, 1 dried block Tofu, 100 grams of thinly sliced ​​pork, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp rice wine, 2 tbsp cooking oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 eggs.

1. Halve, scrape and slice the fruit
2. Fry the pork in 1 tbsp hot oil, season with salt
3. Add the tofu one at a time and sauté until lightly brown
4. Set the meat and tofu mixture aside in a bowl
5. Put 1 tbsp oil in the pan
6. Sear the bitter melon slices, add the meat and tofu mixture
7. Whisk the eggs with soy sauce and rice wine, pour over the contents of the pan and leave to set

Vegetarians swap out the pork for chopped vegetables like carrots, beans, and onions. We recommend rice as a side dish.

Plant bitter melon

In the hobby garden, frost-sensitive bitter melon is cultivated as an annual. Cultivation from seeds on a warm windowsill makes sense. By the time the planting season begins in early/mid-May, the young plants that have been brought forward are equipped with a considerable growth advantage for optimum harvest yield. How to do it right:

Cultivation from seeds

You can get certified seeds in specialized online shops, in Asian shops and rarely in local shops. Alternatively, sacrifice a bitter melon and let it ripen until the rind turns yellow-orange, bursts open, revealing the red seeds. Best time for the sowing is in March and April. That is how it goes:

1. Soak seeds in lukewarm water or camomile tea for 6 to 12 hours before sowing
2. Medium sized seed pots(€7.00 at Amazon*) fill with a mix vegetable soil and coconut substrate
3. Moisten substrate with rainwater or stagnant tap water
4. Sow 2 seeds 1 cm deep in each pot
5. Put a transparent hood or plastic bag over the vessels
6. Set up seed pots in a bright location at an ideal 20° to 23° Celsius

hold the potting soil slightly damp. The cover creates a warm, humid microclimate that is beneficial to germination. After two weeks, the first seedlings will sprout and the hood can be removed. With a growth height of 15 centimetres, repot the young plants into larger pots with loose, nutrient-rich soil.

Plant

Ideally, tropical bitter melon will like cucumbers grown in greenhouse. Balcony gardeners plant a balsam pear in a bucket. Outdoor cultivation is reserved for hobby gardeners in mild wine regions. You can read important planting tips in the following overview:

• Location: sunny, warm, sheltered from the wind
• floor: fertile, deep, with good water retention capacity without risk of waterlogging
• pot substrate: nutrient-rich, organically pre-fertilized, coconut soil as a peat substitute, lava granules as drainage
• planting distance: 30 cm to 40 cm (outdoors and greenhouse)
• Extra tip: mulch with nettle leaves for extra nutrients and fewer weeds

Planting with a climbing aid is obligatory. In the greenhouse you can tie the meter-long tendrils to strings. For a tub or planter, we recommend a trellis or a decorative pyramid. Various solutions have proven themselves in the field, such as bamboo sticks connected to form a tipi or latticework between two wooden posts. A pergola on the south wall of the house allows the bitter melon to climb in no time at all and is useful as a year-round facade greening.

Cultivate bitter melon

The care of bitter melon plants is characterized by a high water and nutrient requirement. In view of the rapid growth and a harvest time three weeks after flowering, we recommend using organic liquid fertilizers instead of compost. Time is just too short for soil organisms compost soil converted into plant-available nutrients. Don't miss out on the following care tips:

• Pour: water in beds and tubs as soon as the soil on the surface has dried
• Fertilize: weekly fertilize with liquid vegetable fertilizer,(€15.00 at Amazon*) Worm tea, nettle or comfrey manure
• clean up: remove withered male flowers without discernible fruit set
• To cut: Cut off infertile or surplus side shoots

There are rarely complaints about diseases and pests on bitter melon plants. The many bitter substances in the leaves, shoots and fruits deter most pathogens. A generous planting distance prevents an infestation mildew effectively before. Fight bold aphids with the proven soap solution.

FAQ

Can you eat bitter melon raw?

Eating a bitter melon raw is strongly discouraged. Uncooked and without pre-treatment in a salt bath, the bitter substances it contains can cause a severe stomach upset. Furthermore, the seeds are not suitable for consumption.

What is the effect of bitter melon on blood pressure?

In natural medicine in many countries, bitter melon has made a name for itself as a medicinal plant for type 2 diabetes, fever, worm infestations, infections, headaches and obesity. On the Caribbean island of Trinidad, bitter gourds are also used to treat high blood pressure. European manufacturers of dietary supplements have taken up this aspect and are offering tea or capsules with bitter melon extract as a natural remedy for high blood pressure. In view of possible side effects, such as cardiac arrhythmias, please consult an expert or your family doctor before taking.

Should you peel bitter melon?

If you want to reduce the bitterness before preparing the fruit, you can roughly peel the fruit, cut it into slices, generously salt it and rinse it off after 15 minutes. In Asia, the skin of green, unripe bitter gourds is eaten with pleasure because it is of a delicate consistency.