An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Plant Momordica charantia (Cucurbitaceae)

Common Names
Bitter Melon; Sorosi
How this plant is used
Food
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
List of plant chemicals.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Chemical Name Activity Count Plant Part Low Parts Per Million High Parts Per Million Standard Deviation Reference
PALMITIC-ACID 13 Seed Oil not available not available not available Jim Duke's personal files.
PALMITOLEIC-ACID 2 Fruit not available not available not available Jim Duke's personal files.
PECTIN 24 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PENTADECAN-1-OL 0 Seed Essent. Oil not available not available not available Jim Duke's personal files.
PEROXIDASE 0 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PETROSELINIC-ACID 0 Seed Oil not available not available not available Jim Duke's personal files.
PHENYLALANINE 7 Fruit not available not available not available Jim Duke's personal files.
PHOSPHORUS 4 Fruit 320.0 8333.0 1.55 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
PHOSPHORUS 4 Leaf 540.0 33467.0 5.24 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
PHYTOFLUENE 0 Pericarp not available not available not available Jim Duke's personal files.
PHYTOFLUENE 0 Seed not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PIPECOLIC-ACID 2 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
POLYPEPTIDE-P 0 Fruit not available not available not available Chemical Constituents of Oriental Herbs (3 diff. books)
POTASSIUM 14 Fruit 2700.0 45000.0 2.40 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
POTASSIUM 14 Leaf 5100.0 33117.0 0.12 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
PROLINE 0 Fruit not available not available not available Jim Duke's personal files.
PROTEIN 0 Fruit 9000.0 181000.0 0.96 Duke, 1992 *
PROTEIN 0 Leaf 51000.0 371000.0 1.59 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
RIBOFLAVIN 15 Fruit 0.4 9.0 0.85 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
RIBOFLAVIN 15 Leaf 4.6 31.0 -0.03 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
List of plant activities.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Activity Chemical Count Reference
Carcinogenic 1 Science News, 146: 421.
Cardioprotective 6 Duke, 1992 *
Cardiotoxic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Cardiovascular 2 Borchard, R. E., Barnes, C. D., and Eltherton, L. G. 1991. Drug Dosage in Laboratory Animals: A Handbook. (3rd Ed.) The Telford Press, Inc., P. O. Box 287, Caldwell NJ 07006.
Caspase-8-Inducer 1 Duke, 1992 *
Cerebrophilic 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Chemopreventive 3 Duke, 1992 *
Chemopreventive (Breast Cancer) 1 Duke, 1992 *
Chemopreventive (Colon Cancer) 1 Duke, 1992 *
Choleretic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Circulotonic 1 Duke, 1992 *
CNS-Depressant 2 Rizk, A.F.M. and Al-Nowaihi, A.S., The Phytochemistry of the Horticultural Plants of Qatar, Scientific and Applied Research Centre, University of Qatar.
CNS-Inhibitor 2 Borchard, R. E., Barnes, C. D., and Eltherton, L. G. 1991. Drug Dosage in Laboratory Animals: A Handbook. (3rd Ed.) The Telford Press, Inc., P. O. Box 287, Caldwell NJ 07006.
CNS-Paralytic 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
CNS-Stimulant 1 Duke, 1992 *
Cold-preventive 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Collagenic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Colorant 7 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Comedolytic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Contraceptive 1 Martindale's 28th