name: Bitter Gourd
flavor_db_name_variants: bitter gourd
source: foodb
status: draft
food_db_id: Bitter gourd
id: 115
name_scientific: Momordica charantia
description: Momordica charantia often called bitter melon, bitter gourd or bitter squash in English, has many other local names. Goya from the indigenous language of Okinawa where there is a large US military presence and karavella from Sanskrit are also used by English-language speakers. It is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit, which is among the most bitter of all fruits. Its many varieties differ substantially in the shape and bitterness of the fruit. This is a plant of the tropics. Bitter melon originated in India, and it was carried to China in the 14th century.
itis_id: 22399
wikipedia_id: Bitter melon
picture_file_name: 115.jpg
picture_content_type: image/jpeg
picture_file_size: 72072
picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:39:26.000Z
legacy_id: 122
food_group: Gourds
food_subgroup: Gourds
food_type: Type 1
created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:21.000Z
updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:04:16.000Z
creator_id: null
updater_id: null
export_to_afcdb: false
category: specific
ncbi_taxonomy_id: 3673
export_to_foodb: true
public_id: FOOD00115