Balsam Pear seed Momordica charantia
LATIN NAME: Momordica charantia
COMMON NAME: Bitter Melon
The bitter melon hangs its warty, ridged, pale-green fruits from the climbing stems, and the deeply lobed leaves and the yellow flowers cover the vine. The vigorous, climbing, annual vine carries the deeply lobed, bright-green leaves and the small, yellow, five-petalled flowers through the warm season, one of the fine, generous sights of the warm garden, drawing the bees, to be followed by the oblong, warty, deeply ridged, pale-green or yellow fruits with the orange-red pulp and the flat, mottled seeds. The fruits have a very long record as the fine, bitter-savoured gourds of the warm tables, and the vine is a fine, historic presence of the warm garden. It is a vine of the open, sunny, deep, rich, moist ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The bitter melon is a historic subject of the plant science, and the warty fruits keep showing up in the work on the bitter gourds. The way the oblong, warty, deeply ridged, pale-green or yellow fruits develop from the small, yellow flowers has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the bitter gourds, the warm-season vines and the members of the gourd family. The deeply lobed leaves and the vigorous habit have also made it a fine study vine, and the bitter melon is a regular subject of the work on the warty fruits of the warm world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The bitter melon is a fine, generous vine of the warm garden and the trellis. The oblong, warty, deeply ridged, pale-green or yellow fruits have a very long record as the fine, bitter-savoured gourds of the warm tables, the young fruits coming to the stir-fries, the soups, the stuffed dishes and the pickles of the warm kitchens, while the small, yellow, five-petalled flowers open through the warm season, drawing the bees. It is one of the fine choices for the warm garden, the trellis and the study collection, and it has been written up in the culinary and the agricultural papers for the warty fruits and the very long history. It is a fine, generous vine of the open, sunny, deep, rich, moist garden.
Give the young vines the trellis and the warm, sunny spot, and the warty fruits will come in the first warm season.
To grow the bitter melon from seed, sow the flat, mottled seeds a couple of centimetres down in the deep pot of rich, gritty soil, keep the pot in a warm, bright spot and water gently, then set the young vines out after the last frosts. The seedlings are up within a week or two and grow on fast. With the sun, the trellis and the deep, rich, moist ground, the warty fruits will come in the first warm season.
Thick flesh is tender and delicious, excellent for stir-fry and soup cooking.
(Foo gwa; Bitter gourd) Squash-like fruit with an agreeably bitter, tangy flavour and edible peel. Excellent stuffed or stir fried. For stir fried dishes, parboil for 3 minutes to reduce bitterness. Grows like cucumbers.