Momordica charantia: A natural medicinal plant
Department of Pharmacology, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Kakinada (JNTUK), India.
Review Article
GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2020, 12(02), 129-135.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gscbps.2020.12.2.0251
Publication history:
Received on 03 August 2020; revised on 11 August 2020; accepted on 13 August 2020
Abstract:
Natural products play an important role in the treatment of several diseases inflicted on mankind and in drug discovery procedures. Drugs synthesized from naturally available products are usually safe, cheap in cost, easily available and more effective than pure synthetic drugs in the treatment of several diseases. Bitter melon containing numerous bioactive compounds like saponins, alkaloids, polypeptides, minerals, vitamins, with the ability to fight against several disorders, i.e. diabetes mellitus, abdominal pain, tumor proliferation, cancer, kidney (stone), scabies and fever. The key constituent of BM called charantin, which is steroidal saponins, act like peptides and certain alkaloids that control sugar levels in blood. The medicinal properties of M.charantia are beneficial in regulating blood cholesterol to minimise cardiovascular disorders like atherosclerosis. There are several classes of secondary metabolites, such as tannins, flavonoids, and alkaloids in the fresh and dried leaves extracts of Bitter melon with antimicrobial activity. This phytochemical composition of both the leaves reported antimicrobial activity against different bacteria, like Salmonella, E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus and Streptococcus.
Keywords:
Momordica charantia, bitter melon, antidiabetic, wound healing, antimicrobial, anticancer
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Copyright © 2020 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0
