Harnessing Nutritive Potential of Bittergourd (Momordica Charantia) Through Product Development Endeavor

Momordicacharantia, a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, is known as bitter melon, bitter gourd, balsam pear, karela, and pare. It grows in tropical areas of the Amazon, East Africa, Asia, India, South America, and the Caribbean and is used traditionally as both food and medicine. Bitter gourd was analyzed in two forms; whole bitter gourd powder and seed powder for proximate and vitamin C and products were developed using both types of powder followed by sensory evaluation using the 9-point hedonic scale. The results revealed that the presence of nutrients comprising moisture; 91.02 and 91.36, ash; 0.9 and 0.2, protein; 1.27 and 1.46, fat; 2.10 and 1.05, fiber; 0.57 and 0.86,carbohydrate; 4.74 and 4.02, and vitamin C; 86 and 92. Products developed from bittergourdpowder and bittergourdseedpowders were uttpam and palak patoda. Bitter gourd powder uttpam was more acceptable than that of control and bitter gourd seed powder, while control palak patoda was more acceptable than that of bitter gourd powder and bitter gourd seed powder palak patoda. This study suggests the need to explore this largely consumed twin trait vegetable, which should include the identification of antinutritional factors and the effect of processing on their reduction.