The effects of heat treatment on the physical and physical and physiological properties of wax gourd (Benincasa hispida) were examined. The applied heat treatments were autoclaved at $121^{\circ}C$ for 1 hr, boiled for 30 min, and microwaved at 680 W for 5 min. The water retention capacity (WRC) of the wax gourds was 9.43 g/g for the microwaved samples, 5.12 g/g for the boiled samples, 4.63 g/g for the raw samples, and 2.61 g/g for the autoclaved samples. Heat treatment caused to increase swelling by up to $4.4{\sim}7.8\;mL/g$. Calcium binding capacity of heat-treated wax gourd increased in the order of microwaved, boiled, raw, autoclaved samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SME) showed that autoclaving caused the most severe structural modifications, while microwave treatment produced the least modifications. The retarding effect on glucose and bile acid transport depended on the heat treatment. Only boiling showed the glucose retardation effect. Bile acid retardation effect increased in order of boiling (22.9%), autoclaving (17.1%), microwave treatment (14.3%), and raw wax gourd (8.6%). The cadmium retardation effect was significantly high in all samples.