Momordica charantia is a cucurbit vine native to Asia and now widely cultivated
throughout the world for the immature fruits, and sometimes for the tender leafy
shoots or the ripe fruits (Yamaguchi, 1983). The immature fruits, called bitter melon,
bitter gourd or balsam pear, are harvested at developmental stages up to seed
hardening. The bitter principle, for which the fruit is named, is due to the alkaloid
momordicine, not to cucurbitacins as in other members of the Cucurbitaceae