BITTER MELON

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Momordica charantia
FAMILY: Cucurbitaceae

Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia) also called Balsam pear, Kerela, Balsam Apple, Bitter Cucumber, Carilla Fruit, Karawila or Bitter Gourd.

Bitter Melon is a Cucurbit vine and is best grown as a trellised vine. The fruit is green, about 10 to 20 cm in length with warty-looking knobs. When the fruit turns yellow it is very bitter and best not eaten as a vegetable and should be pickled or used for seed.

The young fruit are best eaten fresh either steamed or boiled. The bitterness is removed by soaking in salty water, then washed and drained before cooking. Like most cucurbits, the new shoots and leaves can also be eaten.

Plant the seeds in a raised row with soil well-limed and fertilised. Place seeds 2 ft apart. When the vine grows enough, train onto trellising. Water regularly as this plant is a tropical native to India and South-east Asia.

In 2 to 3 months the fruit should be ready to pick and stored in the fridge for 5-7 days.

Fruit is prepared by cutting in half, scoop out the seeds and pith, cut into small pieces with garlic, onion, spices and cook until clear.

This can be put into salads or placed back into skin halves with meat and baked or steamed. The nutritional value of Vitamin A and C with 92.4 kj, 0.9% Protein, 0.4% Fat, 5% Carbohydrate, 55mg Ascorbic acid, 0.9 Iron, 0.2 mg Carotene, 0.06 Thiamine, 0.03 Riboflavin. 0.03 Niacin. 3 mg Calcium.

Lyn Benson,
Capricornia Branch Newsletter, Vol. 13 No. 5

DATE: November 1996

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