Bitter melon flower, a Chinese medicinal herb. It is the flower of the bitter melon plant, Momordica charantia L., of the Cucurbitaceae family. It is widely cultivated in both the northern and southern regions of China. Bitter melon flower has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, and strengthening the stomach. It is commonly used for treating dysentery and stomach pain. Other names for bitter melon flower include luffa flower, cool melon flower, scaly grape flower, lychee flower, red girl flower, and red sheep flower.
Characteristics of Bitter Melon Flower:
Bitter melon flower is an annual climbing herb with many branches and fine hairs. The tendrils are unbranched. The leaves are large, kidney-shaped, about 5-12cm long and wide, usually deeply lobed into 5-7 ovate-elliptic lobes, with a contracted base and wavy toothed margins. The leaf surfaces are smooth or slightly hairy. The petiole is 3-6cm long. The flowers are monoecious.
The male flowers are solitary, pedunculate, 5-15cm long, and have bracts at the middle or base. The bracts are kidney-shaped or circular, 5-15mm wide, with entire margins. The calyx is bell-shaped, 5-lobed, with ovate-lanceolate lobes, short and pointed at the apex, about 4-6mm long. The corolla is yellow, 5-lobed, with ovate-elliptic lobes, about 1.5-2cm long, bluntly rounded or slightly concave at the apex. There are 3 stamens, adnate to the throat of the calyx tube.
The female flowers are solitary, pedunculate, 5-10cm long, with bracts at the base. The ovary is spindle-shaped, with prickles and a beaked apex. The style is slender, with 3 stigmas, and there are many ovules.
The fruit is elongated-ovoid or ovoid, 8-30cm long, with blunt, irregularly shaped tubercles all over. When mature, it is orange-yellow and splits into 3 valves from the apex. The seeds are elliptical, flattened, 10-15mm long, with angular teeth at both ends and uneven ridges on both sides, enclosed in a red fleshy false aril. The flowering period is from June to July, and the fruiting period is from September to October.
Effects and Functions of Bitter Melon Flower:
Bitter melon flower has the following properties:
According to "Folk Medicinal Herbs of Southern Fujian": Bitter, cold, non-toxic.
Bitter melon flower is used for the following purposes:
According to "Folk Medicinal Herbs of Southern Fujian": Stops dysentery.
According to the "Herbal Manual of Jiangxi": Treats stomach pain.
