Bitter
melon on the plate
Bitter
melon is quite abundant in South East Asian countries, It is believed
from India originally. The melons also grow well in regions of:
-
Africa
-
South America
-
some parts of Asia
-
South
East Asia
-
The
Caribbeans.
The
shape and green color look like a cucumber:
-
slender
-
a little bit long.
Actually,
cucumber and bitter melon are the same family, Cucurbitaceae. But,
the scientific name for bitter melon is Momordica
charantia.
Bitter
melons are sold in the market
The
color will change to orange or yellow when ripen. One of bitter, and
might be even most bitter vegetable eaten by human.
The
ripen the melon the bitter it taste. It is harvested a year round.
Some
ethnic shops such as Asian shops and Mexican shops sell the bitter
melon
in the USA market.
Cuts
of a bitter melon
The
melon was eaten (cook) as vegetable and sometimes drink as juice.
Nutritional values are good for health.
Just
for comparison, bitter melon contains:
-
more calcium than spinach
-
more potassium than banana
-
more beta-carotene than broccoli.
Ready
to cook
In
addition that bitter melon also
rich of:
-
vitamin
-
magnesium
-
iron.
Some
people in Asia and other developing country are using bitter melon as
traditional medicines for:
-
fever
-
cough
-
improve skin health
-
prevent malaria
-
chicken fox
-
measles.
Moreover,
researchers from industry countries are studying
possibility to extract bitter melon to preven growing and spreading
of breast cancer cells.
But
be careful, since bitter taste, thus might problem for some people
stomachs. After a while, their stomach might be adjust to bitterness
of this vegetable.
Have
you
tried
it?
