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Description |
History of Introduction and Spread
M. charantia is native to the Old World and was possibly domesticated in India and southern China. It is now found naturalized in almost all tropical and subtropical regions. It is an important market vegetable in southern and eastern Asia, and wild and cultivated populations can be found in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia, southern China and tropical Africa (PROTA, 2014). It is believed that M. charantia was introduced into America from West Africa with the slave trade. In the West Indies, M. charantia was first recorded in Puerto Rico in 1885 (US National Herbarium). By the end of nineteenth century, local cultivars originally from Asia were recorded on small scale cultivations in tropical America and the southern part of the United States (PROTA, 2014).
Habitat
M. charantia grows under a very wide range of conditions throughout the tropics and subtropics. Its rapid growth and maturation allow it to colonize any area where there is sufficient short-term soil moisture, whilst it can also survive as a perennial in conditions of continuous soil moisture. It grows from sea level to over 1300 m (Tjitrosoedirdjo, 1990), and in areas with annual rainfall as low as 480 mm. Minimum average annual temperatures may be as low as 12.5°C, though the plant is unlikely to thrive in such cold areas. It grows in soils with pH ranging from 4.3 to 8.7 (Holm et al., 1997). M. charantia is a fast-growing vine and quickly covers the supporting vegetation or structure. In general, this species can be found growing in coastal areas, along creeks and rivers, forest edges and disturbed sites (Hall et al., 2012). For optimum growth, M. charantia needs a strong support, 1-4 m tall, however, it will also grow as a matted ground cover.
Uses
M. charantia is grown as a food crop throughout the tropics. Leaves are used as pot-herbs and fruit are boiled, fried, pickled or used in curries. Both young shoots and immature fruits are eaten as vegetables; although the immature fruits are very bitter unless blanched, or steeped in salty water. The yellow fruit pulp and arils are high in carotenoids, iron, phosphorous and ascorbic acid.
M. charantia may also be grown as an ornamental, although this use is usually combined with the collection of the fruits and shoots for food. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental because of its showy flowers (Janick and Paull, 2008).
This plant can be grown as a cover crop (for example, under cocoa), but its vigorous vining habit makes it difficult to control.
The plant has many medicinal uses, including use as an anthelminthic, purgative and pain reliever, and to treat haemorrhoids, internal parasites and rashes. A seed extract has the capacity to inactivate certain cancerous tumours and may have anti-leukemic activity; it also helps ameliorate the effects of diabetes mellitus (Holm et al., 1997). Its pharmacological properties have been recently investigated by Zafar and Neerja (1991). Leaves of the plant are brewed in hot water to create a tea to treat malaria and diabetes. The leaves are allowed to steep in hot water before being strained thoroughly so that only the remaining liquid is used for the tea (Maiti et al., 2012). |
