Bitter gourds (Momordica charantia)

Bitter gourds (Momordica charantia) is also known as Karela, bitter melon. The root, leaves and fruit from this plant are used as vegetables and in some medicinal uses. The plant is native from either China or India.

Preparing to serve as food
Slice bitter gourds into circles or lengthwise, and remove the seeds and pulp. Parboil them before cook, to remove the bitterness. They can be then stuffed, steamed, stir-fried, or pickled.

Special dishes using bitter gourds

• combine prepared gourds with black, fermented soy beans to use in curries.
• green leaves and young shoots are also edible after parboiling and stir-fried like greens.
• pickled bitter gourds can be used in making special chutney.

Medicinal uses

• Recent research suggests that, more than 22 medicinally active substances has been identified in bitter gourds, which are useful in treating diabetes as well as other diseases such as cancer, ulcer, hepatitis, measles, HIV and immune disorders.
  
• Bitter gourds contains Gurmarin, a polypeptide considered to be similar to bovine insulin, which has been shown in experimental studies to achieve a positive sugar regulating effect by suppressing the neural response to sweet taste stimuli.
  
• Diabetic patients can take the juice of bitter gourds. The seeds of bitter melon also can be added to food in a powdered form.
  
• The use of Bitter gourds during pregnancy is not recommended.

Betel nuts (areca nuts)

Betel nuts(areca nuts) are the seeds of Betel palm (Areca catechu), which are native to Malaya. The size of the nuts are about 2 inches(5cm) long and colored between dark-brown to gray.

In general, the betel nuts become mature between the months August and November. The matured betel nuts are boiled in water, cut into slices, and dried in the sun. The driend nuts are then broken down into smaller pieces (sometimes into a powder) and mixed with edible lime (which aids in the absorption of their active ingredients, arecaine and arecoline, to human body). The mixture is then wrappen together in a leaf of the betel pepper (Piper betle) and chewed. To improve the taste and flavor, the betel-lime mixture can be then added with a small amount of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, tamarind or cardamom.

The alkaloid and arecoline ingredients of Betel nuts are a mild stimulant which produce a feeling of wellbeing, when chewing the above prepared mixture. 

Overuse of betel nuts chewing can cause a feeling of intoxication and convulsions. The habitual and long term betel nut chewers will eventually develop a distinctive red stain of the mouth, teeth, and gums; and sometime it alos cause tooth decay.

Other uses

The betel nuts are used to destroy intestinal worms, and are also used as a dewormer in veterinary medicine.

How betel nut got this name?

Since, the leaves from Piper betle(betel) are chewed together with areca nut and edible lime (the mixture is also called calcium hydroxide,  limbux, or slaked lime); and with that  association, the areca nut has become known as betel nut.

[image: woman holds Betel nut with piper betle]