bitter melon extract

 

In traditional Chinese herbal medicine, bitter melon is thought to stimulate digestive function and promote appetite. As a fairly common food, bitter melon is commonly used in the tropics as a condition modifier for the treatment of infectious diseases, cancer and diabetes. The immature fruits, seeds and aerial parts of bitter melon are used in many parts of the world for the treatment of diabetes. Both its leaves and fruit have been used to make tea and beer. Now bitter melon capsules and tinctures in the Western world as herbal medicine is widely used in diabetes, AIDS and other viral diseases, colds, flu and psoriasis treatment.

 

Bitter melon belongs to cucurbitaceae, bitter melon grows in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of East Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and South America. Bitter melon is a food and a drug in these areas, although the seeds, leaves and vines can be used, but the fruit is the plant medicinal parts of the most secure and most widely used.

 

 

Anti-diabetic effect

Bitter melon contains steroidal saponins such as momordicin, insulin-like peptides and alkaloids, these substances give bitter melon hypoglycemic activity. Momordicin stimulates the release of insulin and blocks glucose formation in the bloodstream, a function that may play a significant role in the treatment of diabetes, especially non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The hypoglycemic function is attributed to two substances:

 

(1) Momordicin - a bitter melon fruit ethanol extract obtained in the crystalline material. Momordicin in the control of the dose of 50mg / kg reduced the total number of experimental rabbits 42% in vivo blood sugar. Momordicin shows the role of the pancreas and the external pancreas, and a slight anti-spasm and anticholinergic effect.

 

(2) P-insulin (or v-insulin, since it is a plant insulin). It is structurally macromolecule polypeptide conformation, and pharmacologically similar to bovine insulin. P-insulin consists of two disulfide-linked polypeptide chains. Subcutaneous and intramuscular administration of P-insulin has a hypoglycemic effect on diabetic patients whose peak duration is different from that of bovine insulin after 2 hours and appears after 4-8 hours.

 

Antiviral function

Bitter melon extract has been shown to be effective in pain due to psoriasis, cancer-induced neuropathic complications, and may delay the onset of cataract or retinopathy and the suppression of HIV by destroying viral DNA. Its anti-cancer properties in part because of its role in the promotion of immune function. Studies have shown that bitter melon extract inhibits lymphocyte proliferation and macrophage and lymphocyte activity.