Abstract

MOMORDICA CHARANTIA LINN AS A MEDICINAL PLANT: A REVIEW

Shibu Narayan Jana*, Papiya Mitra Mazumder and G. Nagaraju

ABSTRACT

Momordica charantia (Bitter gourd) is a plant used in medicine from the time of Ayurveda, the ancient system of Indian medicine. It is an herbal climber grown in tropical and subtropical regions, belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family. It contains various novel and pharmacologically active phytochemicals including triterpenes, proteins and steroids. Primary metabolites of Momordica charantia are common sugars, proteins and chlorophyll while secondary metabolites are alkaloids, flavonoids, tanins, saponins, disogenin, proteins, calcium etc. Basically, secondary metabolites of Momordica charantia are responsible for pharmacological activities. Momordica charantia popularly used in various systems of traditional medicine for various activities such as antidiabetic, antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, antipoliovirus, hypolipidaemic, antineoplastic, immunomodulator, antiulcerogenic, antiinflammatory, anthelmintic, antimalarial, antiprothrombin, antiobesity, abortifacient and insecticidal. Various in vivo and in vitro studies suggested its efficacy in several type of cancers like lymphoid, leukemia, lymphoma, choriocarcinoma, melanoma, breast cancer, skin tumour, prostatic cancer, human bladder carcinoma and Hodgkin’s disease. In this review, we revealed the general description, taxonomical hierarchy and pharmacological properties of Momordica charantia in detail.

Keywords: Momordica charantia (Bitter gourd), Pharmacological activities, general description, taxonomical hierarchy.