Momordica charantia (colloquially: bitter melon; bitter apple; bitter gourd; bitter squash; balsam-pear; with many more names listed below) is a tropical and ...MomordicacharantiaFromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopediaJumptonavigationJumptosearch"Bittermelon"redirectshere.FortheplantcalledbittermeloninAustralia,seeCitrulluslanatus.Thisarticleisabouttheplant.ForthestateinIndiawithasimilarname,seeKerala.SpeciesofplantwithbitterfruitMomordicacharantiaBotanicalillustrationofplantpartsScientificclassificationKingdom:PlantaeClade:TracheophytesClade:AngiospermsClade:EudicotsClade:RosidsOrder:CucurbitalesFamily:CucurbitaceaeGenus:MomordicaSpecies:M. charantiaBinomialnameMomordicacharantiaL.AfullBittermelon(Momordicacharantia)withtwohalvedandtwocrosssections.Momordicacharantia(colloquially:bittermelon;bitterapple;bittergourd;bittersquash;balsam-pear;withmanymorenameslistedbelow)[1]isatropicalandsubtropicalvineofthefamilyCucurbitaceae,widelygrowninAsia,Africa,andtheCaribbeanforitsediblefruit.Itsmanyvarietiesdiffersubstantiallyintheshapeandbitternessofthefruit.BittermelonoriginatedinAfrica[2]whereitwasadry-seasonstaplefoodofǃKunghunter-gatherers.[3]Wildorsemi-domesticatedvariantsspreadacrossAsiainprehistory,anditwaslikelyfullydomesticatedinSoutheastAsia.[2][4]ItiswidelyusedinthecuisinesofEastAsia,SouthAsia,andSoutheastAsia.Contents1Alternativenames2Description2.1Varieties3Culinaryuses4Traditionalmedicinaluses5Pharmacology5.1Adverseeffects5.2Pregnancy6Bittermelontea7Gallery7.1Plant7.2Dishesandotheruses8Seealso9References10ExternallinksAlternativenames[edit]Bittermelonhasmanynamesinotherlanguages,whichhavesometimesenteredEnglishasloanwords.Followingareafew:AlternativenamesofbittermelonLanguageRomanizedScriptCherokeeuyvsdianiwsvgiᎤᏴᏍᏗᎠᏂᏩᏒᎩHindikarelāकरेलाArabicalhanzilالحنظلUrdukarelāکریلاGujaratikārelũકારેલુંPunjabikarelāਕਰੇਲਾNepalikareloकरेलोKashmirikarelकरेलMarathikārlīकारलीKonkani(Goa)kārāteकारांतेंAssamesekerelaকেৰেলাBengalikôrôlaকরলাMalayalampāvaykka/kaippaykkaപാവയ്ക്ക/കൈപ്പയ്ക്ക