Pinyin: Kugua
Aliases
Jinlizhi, Laiputao, Hongguniang, Lianggua.
1. Lai.
Internal use: decoct 3-10 g, large dose 10-30 g, or grind into powder and take 1-3 g. External use: appropriate amount, grind into powder and apply.
Cucurbitaceae plant bitter melonMomordica charantiaL. dried ripe fruit.
Botanical Description
A monoecious, annual climbing herb. Much branched, stems and branches covered with fine soft hairs. Tendrils unbranched, slender, up to 20 cm long, covered with minute soft hairs. Petioles slender, initially with white soft hairs, later becoming nearly glabrous, 4-6 cm long; leaf blade outline ovate-elliptic-reniform or nearly circular, membranous, 4-12 cm in both length and width, green above, pale green below, with distinct minute soft hairs on the veins, palmately 5-7 lobed, lobes ovate-oblong, margins coarsely serrate or with irregular small lobules, apex mostly obtuse-rounded, base curved into a semicircle, palmately veined. Monoecious; male flowers solitary, pedicellate, 5-15 cm long, with a bract at the middle or base, bract reniform-cordate, calyx tube campanulate, 5-lobed, lobes ovate-lanceolate, apex acuminate, corolla yellow, 5-lobed, 1.5-2 cm long, apex obtuse-rounded or slightly emarginate, stamens 3, adnate to the throat of the calyx tube; female flowers solitary, pedicellate, 5-10 cm long, with a bract at the base, ovary fusiform, with spiny warts, apex beaked, style slender, stigma 3. Fruit oblong, ovoid, or narrowed at both ends, 8-30 cm long, covered with obtuse, irregular, tuberculate protrusions, orange-yellow when mature, splitting from the apex into 3 valves. Seeds elliptic, flattened, with horn-like teeth at both ends, both surfaces with irregular striations, enclosed in a red, fleshy aril. Flowering period June to July, fruiting period September to October.
Habitat and Distribution
It is widely cultivated throughout both northern and southern China.
Harvesting and Processing
Harvest the fruit in autumn, slice, and sun-dry or use fresh.
Medicinal Properties
Dried bitter melon slices are elliptical or oblong, approximately 2-8 mm thick, 3-15 cm long, and 0.4-2 cm wide, entirely wrinkled and curved, with a light grayish-brown, rough pericarp exhibiting longitudinal wrinkles or tumor-like protrusions. Occasionally, seeds or cavities left after seed detachment are present in the center. The texture is brittle and easily broken. The odor is faint and the taste is bitter.
Chemical Constituents
This product contains components such as 5,25-stigmastadienol-3-glucoside and momordicoside.
Pharmacology
Lowers blood glucose; anticancer; antiviral.
Properties and Channel Entry
Bitter, cold. Enters the Heart, Spleen, and Lung channels.
Functions and Indications
Dispels Summer-Heat, cleanses Heat, brightens the eyes, and resolves toxicity
Dosage and Administration
Oral: decoct 6-15 g, fresh product 30-60 g; or calcine until the nature is retained and grind into powder. External use: appropriate amount, mash fresh product for application; or apply the juice.
Precautions and Contraindications
Those with Spleen and Stomach deficiency-cold should use with caution.
Prescriptions
1. For heat stroke and summer-heat: Cut fresh bitter gourd, remove the pith, place tea leaves inside, rejoin the gourd, and hang in a shaded area to dry. When using, take 6-9 g and decoct in water, or slice and steep in boiling water as a tea substitute. (Quanzhou Bencao) 2. For vexing heat, wasting-thirst, and excessive drinking: Squeeze juice from bitter gourd, mix with honey, and take cold. (Quanzhou Bencao) 3. For dysentery: Pound fresh bitter gourd to extract 1 small cup of juice, mix with honey, and take. (Quanzhou Bencao) 4. For abscesses and swellings: Pound fresh bitter gourd into a paste and apply to the affected area. (Quanzhou Bencao) 5. For tinea versicolor: Remove the pith and seeds from fresh bitter gourd, place 0.6 g of arsenic trioxide powder inside, cover the opening, roast over fire until juice emerges, then apply the juice to the affected area. (Fujian Materia Medica Record)
