Mysterious of Bitter Gourd ???
The shape of bitter gourd just looks like a cucumber but with ugly gourd-like bumps all over it. As the name implies, this vegetable is one type of melon with bitter taste. There are 2 varieties of this vegetable which are one grows to about 20cm long, with oblong and pale green in colour. Another one is the smaller variety, less than 10cm long, with oval and has a darker green colour. However, both varieties have seeds that are white in colour when unripe and that turn red colour when they are ripe. They are even more bitter when the bitter gourd turn reddish-orange. Botanically it belongs to the family of Cucurbitaceous. Its genus is belong to Momordica and is a member of the same family of watermelon, cucumber, squash and other.
Traditionally, bitter gourd is one of the most popular vegetables in China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and India. The plant is grown mainly for the immature fruits although the young leaves and tips are edible. The hard skin of bitter gourd seed require either warm or moist soil conditions during germination. It may take a long time to germinate if the soil temperature is too low. Bitter gourd is a long season, high humidity and warm-climate vine plant and needs to grow along supports. On the other hand, it may take notes that bitter gourd needs insects to carry out the pollinating process for setting fruits. At the same time, you can done pollinating process by picking up male flowers and transferring pollens to female flowers if the insects are not available in your area. Formal flowers have a fat section between the flower and vine stem. This process should be carried out when flowering is active during daytime.
In fact, bitter gourds are low in calories but dense with precious nutrients. It has high dietary fiber and considered as an excellence source of vitamins B1, B2, and B3, C, Magnesium, folic acid, zinc, phosphorus and manganese. Furthermore, it is rich in iron, contains twice the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and twice the potassium of a banana. Folate helps reduce incidence of neural tube defects in pregnant mothers when taken during early pregnancy. Subsequently, bitter gourd also contains a unique phyto-constituent that has been confirmed to have a hypoglycemic effect called charantin. Charantin increases glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis in the cells of liver, muscle and adipose tissue.There is also another insulin-like compound known as polypeptide P which have been suggested as insulin replacement in some diabetic patients.
There are some caution tips in order to prevent excessive consumed of bitter gourd. PLEASE do not consume more than 2 ounces of bitter gourd or more than 2 bitter gourd per day. Excessive consumption of bitter gourd may cause mild abdominal pain and diarrhea. Diabetics taking hypoglycenmic drugs will need to alter the dosage of their drugs if they consume bitter gourd on a regular basis. Lastly, pregnant women should avoid taking excessive bitter gourd as it may stimulate the uterus that may lead to preterm labour.
In fact, bitter gourds are low in calories but dense with precious nutrients. It has high dietary fiber and considered as an excellence source of vitamins B1, B2, and B3, C, Magnesium, folic acid, zinc, phosphorus and manganese. Furthermore, it is rich in iron, contains twice the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and twice the potassium of a banana. Folate helps reduce incidence of neural tube defects in pregnant mothers when taken during early pregnancy. Subsequently, bitter gourd also contains a unique phyto-constituent that has been confirmed to have a hypoglycemic effect called charantin. Charantin increases glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis in the cells of liver, muscle and adipose tissue.There is also another insulin-like compound known as polypeptide P which have been suggested as insulin replacement in some diabetic patients.
There are some caution tips in order to prevent excessive consumed of bitter gourd. PLEASE do not consume more than 2 ounces of bitter gourd or more than 2 bitter gourd per day. Excessive consumption of bitter gourd may cause mild abdominal pain and diarrhea. Diabetics taking hypoglycenmic drugs will need to alter the dosage of their drugs if they consume bitter gourd on a regular basis. Lastly, pregnant women should avoid taking excessive bitter gourd as it may stimulate the uterus that may lead to preterm labour.
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| Unripe bitter gourd |
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| Smaller variety of bitter gourd |
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| Long shape bitter gourd |
Bitter melon/ bitter guord:
Bitter gourd:
Love to eat bitter gourd so much >.<
ReplyDeleteLove to eat biter gourd so much >.<
ReplyDelete