Growing Wild Bitter Gourd & Its Medicinal Uses

When I was younger, I do not know how to appreciate bitter melon or bitter gourd. It was later in my adult years that I learned to eat and appreciate bitter gourd. The common ones are the longer and bigger bitter gourd that we normally buy from the local market and they are used in our Asian cuisines.

Today I am sharing about the wild bitter gourd or the Indian variety which is also edible. It is smaller in size and harder in texture than the normal, longer and bigger ones. And also more bitter than the normal ones. At one time, these can only be found at the Indian stalls in the market but now these can also be easily found at other stalls.

I bought some wild bitter gourds and kept them in the refrigerator. By the time I remembered and wanted to juice them, some have ripen and turned yellow. I cut them open and took the seeds out to plant.

When the gourd is ripe, the seeds covering called arils are red and fleshy. From the internet, I have read that the arils can be eaten. But the ripe orange gourds and the seeds are toxic and not to be eaten. So far, we have eaten the green ones but not the fully ripen fruits.

The seeds germinated very easily and very soon, baby plants were growing well and healthy in the moist garden soil. I watered them daily and fertilized them every two weeks.

Very soon, tendrils started growing from the plants, I put up some supports for them to climb and twine. I placed the pot in full sun.

The vines are not very big and the fruits are small and not heavy. The leaves or vines when touched, have a kind of smell.

These are the small yellow flowers. Once the female flowers are pollinated, the small bulge below the flowers will turn into gourds.

After pollination, the gourd started to grow. Notice there are fine hairs along the vines.

Here is another baby gourd. There are also fine hairs under the leaves.

Wild bitter gourds are plucked, cooked and eaten when they are still green. The gourds can also be juiced and drank for their health benefits and to lower blood sugar. Bitter gourds are rich in potasium, vitamin A & C. Some claimed that the leaves and flowers are edible but I have not tried.

These are some of the ways I used the wild bitter gourds.

• Fry egg omelette with thinly sliced gourds, etc.
• Raw fruits to juice and drink (very bitter, dilute with water before drinking).
• In soups together with minced or sliced meat or dried shrimps or anchovies and vegetables.

This was the first fruit. Before I could pluck it, it has ripen to this colour. Keeping the seeds for future germination.

There are many claims that wild bitter gourds have many medicinal uses. Some of them are:

• One of the most popular claim is to lower blood sugar effectively. Diabetic patients on medications are advised to be cautious when consuming wild bitter gourds to avoid the blood sugar dropping too low.
• Traditional treatment to relieve stomach disorder, induce menstruation, etc.
• Intestinal worms - boil vines and leaves, drink as tea.
• Also for cooling down body heat.

Side-effects/Caution of over dosage.

• Not advisable for pregnant and breast feeding women and also for those going for surgery or after surgery because bitter gourds may induce bleeding for some.
• Some may experience mild diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, etc.
• Pregnant women - bleeding, contraction, abortion, etc.
• Reduce fertility in both men and women.

He will love you and bless you,

and He will give you many children.

He will give fertility to your land and your animals.

When you arrive in the land He swore to give your ancestors,

you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil,

and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats.

(Deuteronomy 7:13, New Living Translation-NLT)