Bitter Melon as a Therapy for Diabetes, Inflammation, and Cancer: a Panacea?

Abstract

Natural products have been used for centuries for cures prevention, treatment, and cure of multiple diseases. Some dietary agents are present in multiple systems of medicines as proposed treatments for chronic and difficult to treat diseases. Once such natural product is Momordica charantia or bitter melon. Bitter melon is cultivated in multiple regions across the world, and various parts of the plant, such as fruit, leaves seed, etc. have been shown to possess medicinal properties in ancient literature. Over the last few decades, multiple well-structured scientific studies have been performed to study the effects of bitter melon in various diseases. Some of the properties for which bitter melon has been studied include: antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-HIV, anthelmintic, hypotensive, anti-obesity, immuno-modulatory, antihyperlipidemic, hepato-protective, and neuro-protective activities. This review attempts to summarize the various literature findings regarding medicinal properties of bitter melon. With such strong scientific support on so many medicinal claims, bitter melon comes close to being considered a panacea.