Skip to main content

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia)

Pare or bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is a plant species in Cucurbitaceae, grows climbing or spreads with spiral-shaped tendrils, many branches, long fruit and jagged surface, grows well in tropical regions and is usually cultivated for vegetables and medicinal ingredients.

M. charantia has green stems with white hairs. Single leaf stemmed and arranged alternately, length 3.5-8.5 cm, width 4 cm, divided into 5-7 fins with many bones, heart-shaped base, green, wrinkled surface and jagged margins.

Dlium Bitter melon (Momordica charantia)


A single flower has a stalk, male and female flowers in the tree, the crown has five fins and is yellow. The fruit is long oval shaped, has 8-10 linear ribs, irregular nodules, 6-30 cm long depending on subspecies and varieties, bitter taste, young green, ripe to orange and broken with three parts.

Bitter melon has several subpsecies including Momordica charantia macroloba, Momordica charantia charantia and Momordica charantia abbreviata. Some varieties include Momordica charantia muricata and Momordica charantia zeylanica.

Grows wild on abandoned soil, moor or is cultivated and planted in the yard by being spread on the fence to harvest fruit. This plant does not need too much sunlight and can flourish in shady places. Seed is taken from ripe fruit.

Fruits contain albuminoids, carbohydrates and pigments. The leaves contain momordisina, momordina, carantina, resin and oil. The root contains momordial acid and oleanolic acid. Seeds contain saponins, alkaloids, triterprenoid, and momordial acid. Large content of beta-carotene to prevent cancer, heart attacks and viral infections.



Pare is widely used for treatment including digestive disorders, tonics, laxatives, vomiting stimulants, stimulating appetite, jaundice, improving digestion, malaria and hypoglycemic drugs through plant-based insulin which reduces blood sugar content for diabetics.

Leaves to cure diarrhea in infants, clean the blood of women who have just given birth, reduce fever, remove pinworms and cure coughs. Seed extract is used as an exterminator of Aedes aegypti larvae.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Momordica
Species: Momordica charantia
Subspecies: Momordica charantia macroloba, Momordica charantia charantia, Momordica charantia abbreviata
Varieties: Momordica charantia muricata, Momordica charantia zeylanica
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular

Cornstalk dracena (Dracaena fragrans)

Drasena or cornstalk dracena (Dracaena fragrans) is a species of flowering plant in Asparagaceae, a shrub that grows slowly, is very adaptive and inhabits in altitude regions of 600-2250 m, multistemmed at the base, up to 15 m high or higher with narrow, upright and slender crowns.

D. fragrans has a round stem with a diameter of up to 30 cm, young plants have a single stem and are not branched with a rosette of leaves to the ends, producing two or more new stems with subsequent flowering episodes.


Lanceolate leaves, 20-150 cm long, 2-12 cm wide, green overall or yellow vertical stripes follow the bone trench in the middle for some varieties, shiny, upright young leaves to spread and larger leaves droop due to weight.

The flowers in panicles are 15-160 cm long, individual flowers have a diameter of 2.5 cm with a six-lobed corolla, are pink and open white with the center having a red or purple line on each lobe for 7-12 mm, very fragrant and popular with pollinating insects.

The berries …
Post a Comment
Read more

Porang (Amorphophallus muelleri)

Porang or iles-iles (Amorphophallus muelleri) is a plant species in Araceae, the leaves are pseudo stems with a height of 40-180 cm and a diameter of 1-5 cm, tubular, green with irregular white patches, each branching point grows bulbil colored brown and yellow tubers.

A. muelleri has pseudo stems and leaves that are bright green to dark green and have greenish white patches. The surface of the stalk is smooth, while the leaves are smooth wavy. Ellipse-shaped leaves with pointed tips.


When flushing has 3, 4-5, 5-6 and finally 6 minor leaf strands with 3 small leaf stems. Young leaves have edges that are light purple, green and will end yellow with a width of 0.3-0.5 mm. Canopy has a width of 50-150 cm.

Stems grow on tubers with a diameter of 25-50 mm and height 75-175 cm. The color of the tuber is brownish or beige on the outer surface and brownish on the inside, rather oval and stringy roots, weight 450-3350 grams, fine tissue, 4-5 months dormant period and 35-55% glucomannan content.

…
Post a Comment
Read more

Mexican sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia)

Paitan or Mexican sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) is a plant species in Asteraceae, shrubs with 2-4 meters high, abundant yellow flowers, fast growing, tolerant to high canopy density with deep roots and widely used as a barrier to erosion, insulin and green fertilizer.

T. diversifolia grows upright, erect stems are tubular and green woody. Single leaf arranged alternately, length up to 32 cm, width up to 25 cm, sharp edges and base, pinnate bones, rough surface and green. Young leaves have a tip, while adult leaves have 3-5 ends.



Compound flowers grow at the end of branches with long stems. Petals are tubular, smooth hair and green. Crown will be separated, ribbon-shaped, yellow and smooth. Yellow round stamens and curved pistils are yellow.

The fruits are round, light green and turn brown when ripe. The seeds are round, have four corners, 5 mm long, hard and brown in color. Seeds spread by the wind. White taproot.

Mexican sunflower grows wild on the edge of farmland, cliff slopes and …
Post a Comment
Read more