• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.499-508
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to examine the qualities of muffins with 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12% bitter melon powder. The specific gravity of muffins prepared by adding bitter melon powder was higher than that of the control group. The height of the control group was higher than that of the samples with bitter melon powder. The weight of muffins was not significantly different between all sample groups. The volume and specific loaf volume of muffins were decreased by the addition of bitter melon powder. The baking loss rate of muffins was not significantly different between all sample groups. The moisture content of the samples with bitter melon powder was higher but the pH of muffins was lower than those of the control group. DPPH radical scavenging activity of the control group was 26.86%, whereas the samples with bitter melon powder ranged from 41.35~74.91%. In crumb color, the L value was decreased, but a and b value were increased significantly by the addition of bitter melon powder. The hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness and brittleness of textural properties of muffins were significantly decreased by the addition of bitter melon powder. Sensory evaluation scores in terms of appearance, flavor, taste, texture and overall preference of groups with 3% and 6% of bitter melon powder did not show any significant difference when compared to the control group. Based on the above results, using less than 6% of the bitter melon powder would be proper to make muffins.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.506-512
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• 2016

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is used in traditional herbal medicine in many Asian countries for the treatment of several diseases such as diabetes, eczema, night blindness, psoriasis, and rheumatism. Especially, most reports concerning the biological activities of bitter melon have focused on its effects on diabetes and hyperglycemia. Also, bitter melon is regarded as a longevity food, suggesting that it has several beneficial effects on anti-aging and the maintenance of a healthy state. Thus, we investigated whether bitter melon could increase the capacity of exercise in this study. Interestingly, bitter melon fruit extract activated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which is important for regulating glucose homeostasis, mitochondrial content and exercise capacity. In addition, bitter melon extract increased the expression of enzymes involved in fatty acid oxidation such as mitochondrial uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3), carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1b (CPT1b), and pyruvate dehydrogenase lipoamide kinase isozyme 4 (PDK4). Moreover, exercise tolerance was much more enhanced in bitter melon treated animals compared to the non-treated control group. These results suggest that bitter melon is a promising candidate for the development of functional foods beneficial for physical strength and the enhancement of exercise capacity.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.504-513
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to determine the antidiabetic and antioxidative effects of Bitter melon on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The normal and the control groups were fed an AIG -93M diet, and the Bitter melon groups were fed 1%, 2% and 3% Bitter melon powder. After two weeks, the control and the experimental group were induced to a diabetic state with the administration of streptozotocin. The blood glucose control and antioxidant activity were analyzed after the animals were sacrificed. The blood glucose levels of all the Bitter melon groups were lower than those of the control group, and the 2% Bitter melon group showed significantly lower blood glucose levels than those of the control group. Serum Triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol of the 2%, and 3% Bitter melon groups were significantly lower than those of the control group. The total cholesterol levels of the bitter melon groups were significantly lower than those of the control group. The serum insulin levels of the induced groups were significantly lower than those of the normal group. The HbA1c levels of the 2% and 3% Bitter melon groups were significantly lower than those of the control group. For the level of antioxidant enzymes in the liver tissues, the 2% Bitter melon group was significantly higher than that of the control group. These results show the antidiabetic and antioxidative effects of Bitter melon for the prevention and treatment of diabetes.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.80-90
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) powder on the quality characteristics. The bulk density of cookie dough of the test groups containing bitter melon powder did not show any significant difference compared to the control group. The pH of cookie dough and cookies decreased with the addition of bitter melon powder. The moisture content of the groups containing bitter melon powder was higher than that of the control group. The spread ratio of the groups containing bitter melon powder was higher but the loss rate of cookies was lower than those of the control group. In color, the L value was decreased significantly by addition of bitter melon powder, but the a and b values did not show any significant differences compared to the control group. The hardness of the test groups containing bitter melon powder was lower than that of the control group. For DPPH radical scavenging activity, the control group measured 20.69%, whereas the test groups containing bitter melon powder ranged from 38.37~69.48%. Sensory evaluation scores in terms of appearance, flavor, taste, texture and overall preference of the group containing 3% of bitter melon powder did not show any significant differences compared to the control group.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.518-523
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• 2016

This study investigated the nutritional components and antioxidant activity of dry bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.). The moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude ash, carbohydrate, and ascorbic acid contents of dry bitter melon were 6.10%, 3.31%, 1.08%, 2.31%, 87.20%, and 908.84 mg/100 g, respectively. Potassium was the most abundant mineral, followed by Mg, P, Na, Ca, Zn, Cu, and Mn, which means dry bitter melon was an alkali material. Regarding amino acid contents, dry bitter melon was rich in arginine, urea, asparagine, ${\gamma}-aminobutyric$ acid, and alanine. Total polyphenol and total flavonoid contents of dry bitter melon extract were 36.08 mg gallic acid equivalents/extract g and 15.66 mg tannic acid equivalents/extract g, respectively. The $IC_{50}$ value for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity was 9.81 mg/mL for dry bitter melon ethanol extracts.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.18-22
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• 2013

To investigate radical scavenging effects and protective activities of bitter melon (Momordica charantia) against oxidative stress, in vitro and a cellular system using LLC-$PK_1$ renal epithelial cells were used in this study. The butanol (BuOH) fraction of bitter melon scavenged 63.4% and 87.1% of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals at concentrations of 250 and $500{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. In addition, the BuOH fraction of bitter melon effectively scavenged hydroxyl radicals (${\cdot}OH$). At all concentrations tested, the scavenging activity of the BuOH fraction was more potent than that of the positive control, ascorbic acid. Furthermore, under the LLC-$PK_1$ cellular model, the cells showed a decline in viability and an increase in lipid peroxidation through oxidative stress induced by pyrogallol, a generator of superoxide anion ($O_2{^-}$). However, the BuOH fraction of bitter melon significantly and dose-dependently inhibited cytotoxicity. In addition, 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1), a generator of peroxynitrite ($ONOO^-$) formed by simultaneous releases of nitric oxide and $O_2{^-}$, caused cytotoxicity in the LLC-$PK_1$ cells while the BuOH fraction of bitter melon ameliorated oxidative damage induced by $ONOO^-$. These results indicate that BuOH fraction of bitter melon has protective activities against oxidative damage induced by free radicals.

• Journal of Evidence-Based Herbal Medicine
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.25-31
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• 2009

Bitter melon Tea for this research and making tea is a sensual quality research on the Characteristics. Presented based on sensory evaluation. It's not about tea culture in quantitative and systematic quantitative description of the phrase was established. The progress of the research industry, Kyungwoon University 20 of students and faculty members representing, eight of specialist personnel, total 28 people in a group was formed. Bitter melon to highlight the health and functional matter. Aspects as the development of easy-to-drink tea, processing of tea and a variant of the changes made throughout the taste and flavor. Through the study of the drinking bitter melon tea is the optimum temperature of 70-72 ${^{\circ}C}$ and not match concentration of standard evaluation and the concentration of drinking volume, to drink soften the opinion has been established. The bitter melon tea through the systematic study of the phrase describes the temperature and the concentration was established.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.259-265
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• 2015

Momordica charantia, commonly known as bitter melon, has interesting pharmacological activities such as anticancer, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antioxidant. As supported by recent scientific reports on the beneficial effects of M. charantia, it is one of the most promising functional plants for diabetes today. In this study, we fermented the bitter melon with lactic acid bacteria and investigated the capability of controlling diabetic conditions by decreasing the blood glucose levels. After extracting the fermented bitter melon with hot water or ethanol, we tested several biological activities using mouse models. When we tested the efficacy of the glycemic control, the extracts of fermented bitter melon significantly lowered the blood glucose levels of the alloxan-induced diabetic mice. We also found that the lactic acid bacteria-fermented bitter melon protected liver damages from the treatment of alloxan monohydrates and maintained low levels of triglycerides and high levels of HDL cholesterol in these mouse models. These results suggest that our approach on fermenting bitter melon and the extracts of fermented bitter melon could lead to the possibility of the development of functional foods that contain the effectiveness of controlling blood glucose and lipid levels as well as preventing liver damages.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.704-712
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• 2013

This study was designed to examine the effects of bitter melon (BM) on the plasma blood glucose and cholesterol levels in diabetic rats. Diabetes mellitus was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats through an injection of streptozotocin (STZ) dissolved in a citrate buffer into the tail vein at a dose of 45 mg/kg of body weight. Sprague-Dawley rats were then fed for four weeks, with the experimental groups receiving a modified diet containing 5% or 10% powder derived from BM. The experimental groups were divided into 4 groups, consisting of the normal control group, STZ-control group and diabetic fed with BM 5% & 10% treated groups. The rats' body weight, blood glucose and cholesterol values were measured along with the hematocrit (Hct) values and aminotransferase activities. Body weight losses were observed in the diabetic groups, whereas the control rats gained weight. There were significant differences in kidney weight between the control group and the diabetic groups. The Hct levels of the diabetic BM-treated group were significantly higher than the STZ-control group. Aspartate aminotransferase activity was lower in the non-diabetic group compared to the diabetic experimental groups. Further, the blood glucose was significantly decreased in the 5% & 10% BM of the diabetic group. There were no significant difference in cholesterol levels among the diabetic groups. These results indicate that the supplementation of bitter melon may have a favorable influence on reducing the blood glucose level in STZ-induced diabetic rats.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.999-1006
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• 2015

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) has been used as a medicinal plant due to its biological activity. This study investigated the inhibitory effects on carbohydrase and anti-inflammatory effects of hot-water extract (WEM) and ethanol extract (EEM) from dried bitter melon cultivated in Korea. The inhibitory activities of EEM against ${\alpha}$-amylase and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase were over 70% at 4,000 ppm. The inhibitory activities of EEM were significantly higher than those of WEM at all concentrations. The anti-inflammatory effects were evaluated by measuring nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. EEM did not show cytotoxicity on RAW264.7 cells at the test concentrations. Moreover, the inhibitory effect on NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells was significantly increased by the addition of EEM. These findings suggest that EEM has good inhibitory effect on carbohydrase and anti-inflammatory activity and it has potential as a source of natural functional material.