LATIN NAME: Momordica charantia

COMMON NAME: Bitter Melon ‘Corsvenor’

The Corsvenor is a fine, early, short-fruited bitter melon of the warm gardens. The vigorous, climbing vine carries the deeply lobed, bright-green leaves and the small, yellow, trumpet-like flowers, to be followed by the compact, warty, pale-green fruits that ripen to the orange-yellow, splitting open to show the red-coated seeds. The fruits are used in the warm kitchens of the East, and the fine, bitter bite is one of the great tastes of the summer. It is a fine, easy, generous vine of the warm, sunny garden and the trellis.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The bitter melon has carved a quiet but solid place in the plant science, and the vine has been studied for the compact, warty fruits and the fine, bitter bite that made them famous. The chemistry of the fruits, which have a long record of use in the kitchens and the traditional practice of the warm regions, has been studied closely, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the cucurbits and the traditional food plants. The deeply lobed leaves and the small, yellow, trumpet-like flowers have also made it a fine garden vine, and the red-coated seeds hold a steady place in the studies of the curious fruits of the melon family.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The Corsvenor does a lot of work in the kitchen and the garden. The compact, warty fruits are used across the warm regions in the stir-fries, the soups and the pickles, and the fine, bitter bite is prized in the old recipes of the East. The vigorous vine is also an easy, generous cover for the trellis and the fence, and the small, yellow flowers feed the bees through the summer. The early, short-fruited habit makes it a fine choice for the shorter seasons. It has been written about in the culinary and the horticultural papers for the early, compact fruits and the traditional place of the bitter melon, and it is a fine, easy vine of the warm, sunny garden.

The Corsvenor is one of the fine, early bitter melons, and the compact, warty fruits are a good deal easier to handle than the long, twisting fruits of the old varieties. The small, yellow, trumpet-like flowers are followed by the fruits that split open at the ripeness to show the red-coated seeds, and the whole vine is a fine, generous, easy crop of the warm summer.

To grow the Corsvenor from seed, nick the hard seeds with a file, then sow them at a depth of about a centimetre in pots of moist, free-draining soil, one seed to each pot, keep them in a warm, bright spot and water gently. The seedlings push through within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. With the sun, the trellis and the deep, rich, well-drained ground, the warty, orange-yellow fruits will be ready through the summer.

It can relieve heat and cool blood, engender liquid and check coughing induce laxation, invigorate the skin, lubricate the lung and eliminate phlegm so that it can be used to prolong life, freshen the complexion, treat heat phlegm, coughing , constipation and depression. According to the modern medicinal researches, it contains rich glucoside which is three hundred times sweeter than sugar cane. It can lower blood sugar and treat diabetes
without adverse reaction. It contains rich vitamin C so as to resist against aging, cancers, lower blood lipids, lose weight and invigorate the skin, help treat hyperlipemia Has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for colds, coughs, sore throats,gastrointestinal disorder, as well as a blood purifier Is easily soluble in water without any sediment. The Extract contains 80% or greater mogroside. Mogroside is 300 times sweeter than cane sugar and is low in calories.