A REVIEW ON ANTIDIABETIC POTENTIAL OF M. CHARANTIA LINN.

The plant Momordica charantia belongs to the family cucurbitaceae and is commonly known as bitter melon. Bitter melon grows in tropical and subtropic areas, including parts of East Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and South America, where it is used as a food as well as a medicine. It produces beautiful flowers and prickly fruit .The fruit of this plant lives up to its name—it tastes bitter. Although the seeds, leaves, and vines of bitter melon have all been used, the fruit is the safest and most prevalent part of the plant used medicinally. Bittermelon contains steroidal saponins known as charantin, insulin-like peptides and alkaloids, which gives it hypoglycemic ability. Charantin stimulates the release of insulin and blocks the formation of glucose in the bloodstream, which may be helpful in the treatment of diabetes particularly in non-insulin dependent diabetes. Charantin posesses pancreatic and extra- pancreatic action, and has a slight antispasmodic and anticholinergic effect. The immature fruit of M.charantia is cucurbitacius. Cucurbitacius is comprised of a group of triterpenes including momordicosides, A-E, K, L, and momardicius I, II and III.