Description
Bitter Gourd F1 Jhalri – Seeds
1 packet contains – 3gm / 10 seeds.
Bitter gourd plant is a fast growing creeper and is from the family of vines. It is also known as nutritious gourd and bitter melon. Bitter gourd plants vary shape, size and colour but the medicinal uses make bitter melon more important and distinct than other medicinal plants.
The most important use of bitter gourd is, it reduces the blood sugar level and is very good for diabetic patients. Bitter gourd has lots of medicinal uses so you can plant them easily in your garden.Scientific Name : Momordica Charantia L.Family : CucurbitaceaBest Season : Throughout the yearNutritional Value : 44 kcal, 5.6 g protein, 290 mg calcium, 5 mg iron, 5.1 mg vitamin A, 170 mg vitamin C per 100 g serving.
Seeds Specifications
| Common Name | Bitter gourd, Bitter melon, Bitter cucumber, Karela (Hindi), Balsam pear, Balsam apple |
| Height | Bitter melon produces vines that grow 13 to 16 feet long. |
| Bloom Time | Year round |
| Difficulty Level | Easy |
Planting And Care
- Re-planting bitter gourd:If you wish to re-plant bitter gourd the next season, leave some fruits so that they get completely dried
- Once fully dried, the fruit will open and you can collect the white or brown colour seeds for further sowing
Bitter Gourd F1 Spartan Care
- Since this is a very fast growing vine, producing many fruits that will rot on moist soil, trellising will reduce diseases and make harvesting easier
- When the vine reaches the top of its trellis, it is recommended that all lateral branches from the soil up to the 10th node as well as the growing tip of the vine be cut off as this will stimulate the upper branches and produce a higher yield
| Sunlight | Partial to full sun |
| Watering | Keep soil consistently moist. Like other squash or melons, bitter melon fruits develop best when soil moisture remains even. |
| Soil | Soil should be fertile, but well-drained, with a pH of 5.5 to 6.7 |
| Temperature | 15 to 30C |
| Fertilizer | Add compost into soil before planting. As plants grow, fertilize plants midway through the growing season, or use Bonnie Herb, Vegetable & Flower Plant Food as a liquid fertilizer, applying more frequently (according to label directions). |
| Harvest Season | When the fruit turns light green in colour and the inside is white, bitter and juicy, you can pluck out the bitter gourd (basically it takes 3-4 months of plantation). |
Bitter Gourd F1 Spartan Uses
Medicinal Use:
- Bitter gourd lowers blood glucose 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
- Bitter gourd is not like most medicinal drugs, which are effective only in one target organ or tissue; rather, it influences glucose metabolism all over the body
- Bitter gourd lowers dietary carbohydrate digestion: The glucose metabolism starts in the gut
- Carbohydrates and sugars are metabolised to glucose (one type of sugar) before glucose is transported from the gut to the blood
- Bitter gourd reduces the amount of glucose that is released into the blood by inhibiting the enzymes that break down disaccharides to two monosaccharides
- 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 gourd plant insulin discovered: The pancreas reacts to increasing blood sugar levels by secreting insulin into the blood
- Insulin helps to transport the sugar from the blood to the skeletal muscle and the fat tissue where it is used to produce energy
- Insulin will also stop the liver to produce sugar from glycogen storages and to release the sugar into the blood
- Thus, insulin is necessary to lower high blood sugar levels
- Bitter gourd reverses insulin resistance: Bitter gourd can play a role in the prevention and treatment of Type II diabetes, which is also called insulin-independent diabetes or adult onset diabetes
- This form of the disease usually occurs in people who are overweight and inactive
- People with insulin resistance or those with a high risk of developing Type II diabetes have a good chance to prevent and treat the disease without drugs by increasing their physical activity and changing their diet
- Bitter gourd prevents diabetic complications: Chronically high sugar concentrations from Type I and Type II diabetes increase the risk of inflammation and oxidation in the whole body, leading to blindness, diabetic feet, kidney disease, stroke, or heart attack
- Consuming bitter gourd can help prevent these complications, as it not only decreases blood sugar levels, but also has some antioxidative properties
- Bitter gourd can protect the body from other non-communicable diseases: Being overweight is one of the most important risk factors for diabetes and other diseases, and Type II diabetes is often accompanied by hypertension, high plasma cholesterol, or high plasma lipids
- Together, these conditions increase the risk of stroke or heart attack
- Apart from this, bitter gourd helps weight loss
- There is also evidence that bitter gourd might be effective in cancer treatment
Culinary Use:
- To prepare bitter melon, slice the fruit open and remove seeds and pith, do not peel
- Beginners to bitter melon may parboil the fruit to lessen bitterness, although aficionados say this changes the texture too much
- Typically bitter melon is stuffed, pickled, or curried and served with meat or in soup
- The fruit pairs well with other strong flavours, like garlic, Chinese black beans, chilli peppers, or coconut milk
- Frequently, bitter melon is stuffed with pork or shrimp and steamed
- Bitter melon enables glucose uptake and is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat Type 2 diabetes
- If you suffer from hypoglycaemia, use caution consuming bitter melon
- The combination of the melon plus the drugs typically used to treat hypoglycaemia can decrease blood sugar levels to dangerously low levels
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