The Role of Momordica charantia in Resisting Obesity

Meiqi Fan, Eun-Kyung Kim, Young-Jin Choi, Yujiao Tang and Sang-Ho Moon
Additional contact information
Meiqi Fan: Division of Food Bioscience, College of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, Korea
Eun-Kyung Kim: Division of Food Bioscience, College of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, Korea
Young-Jin Choi: Division of Food Bioscience, College of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, Korea
Yujiao Tang: Division of Food Bioscience, College of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, Korea
Sang-Ho Moon: Division of Food Bioscience, College of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, Korea

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-17

Abstract: Momordica charantia ( M. charantia ), commonly known as bitter gourd, bitter melon, kugua, balsam pear, or karela, is a tropical and sub-tropical vine belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family. It has been used to treat a variety of diseases in the traditional medicine of China, India, and Sri Lanka. Here, we review the anti-obesity effects of various bioactive components of M. charantia established at the cellular and organismal level. We aim to provide links between various bioactive components of M. charantia and their anti-obesity mechanism. An advanced search was conducted on the worldwide accepted scientific databases via electronic search (Google Scholar, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, ACS Publications, PubMed, Wiley Online Library, SciFinder, CNKI) database with the query TS = “ Momordica charantia ” and “obesity”. Information was also obtained from International Plant Names Index, Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Chinese herbal classic books, online databases, PhD and MSc dissertations, etc. First, studies showing the anti-obesity effects of M. charantia on the cells and on animals were classified. The major bioactive components that showed anti-obesity activities included proteins, triterpenoids, saponins, phenolics, and conjugated linolenic acids. Their mechanisms included inhibition of fat synthesis, promotion of glucose utilization, and stimulation of auxiliary lipid-lowering activity. Finally, we summarized the risks of excessive consumption of M. charantia and the application. Although further research is necessary to explore various issues, this review establishes the therapeutic potential of M. charantia and it is highly promising candidate for the development of anti-obesity health products and medicines.

Keywords: Momordica charantia; bioactive components; anti-obesity; mechanisms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/18/3251/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/18/3251/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:18:p:3251-:d:264146

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().