Bitter Gourd | whatsinit

About

What it is and where it shows up.

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L., family Cucurbitaceae) is a tropical and subtropical vegetable whose unripe fruits are consumed as food and used extensively in traditional medicine across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It is valued both as a culinary ingredient and as a nutraceutical, particularly for its purported antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties derived from bioactive compounds including cucurbitane-type triterpenoids, charantin, flavonoids, and lectins.

Safety summary

The regulatory and scientific consensus.

Bitter gourd is generally safe when consumed as a whole food vegetable at typical dietary amounts; adverse effects are primarily associated with high-dose supplemental extracts and include gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea, abdominal pain), hypoglycemia risk (especially when combined with antidiabetic drugs), and a favism-like syndrome in susceptible individuals. Developmental toxicity signals have been observed in animal (zebrafish embryo) models, and caution is warranted in pregnancy. No formal Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) has been established by major regulatory bodies for the whole fruit as a food.

Regulatory landscape

What food-safety regulators have decided.

Jurisdiction	Status	Note
EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) (European Union)	Approved	Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) fruits are legally imported and traded as food in the EU. EFSA plant health commodity risk assessments focus on phytosanitary controls (Thrips palmi pest risk) for imports from tropical countries; no food-safety ban or restriction on consumption exists. High-risk plant classification relates to pest introduction risk, not food safety.source
FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) (India)	Approved	Bitter gourd is included in FSSAI's Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, with pesticide maximum residue limits (MRLs) established — e.g., Chlorantraniliprole MRL of 0.03 mg/kg for bitter gourd, confirming its recognised status as a regulated food commodity.source
Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) (South Korea)	Approved	Unripe Momordica charantia ethanolic extract powder received individual approval from the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) as a health functional food ingredient in 2021 (Approval No. 2020-14).source

Who should approach with care

Whose guidance would steer them away.

Pregnancy — Zebrafish embryo studies demonstrate developmental cardiac toxicity from crude M. charantia fruit extract at early embryonic stages, and traditional-medicine literature associates high-dose use with uterine contractions; supplemental/medicinal doses should be avoided in pregnancy.

Infants — Published case reports document hypoglycemic coma and convulsions in children administered bitter melon preparations, indicating significant hypoglycemia risk in young children and infants.

Children — Bitter melon supplemental preparations have been associated with hypoglycemic coma and convulsions in children; whole-food dietary amounts may be consumed with caution, but medicinal doses should be avoided.

Diabetes — Bitter melon has demonstrated moderate hypoglycemic effects and may have additive glucose-lowering interactions with antidiabetic medications, potentially causing dangerous hypoglycemia if doses are not monitored.

G6pd Deficiency — A favism-like syndrome has been reported with bitter melon consumption, indicating risk of hemolytic anemia in individuals with G6PD deficiency, consistent with its vicine content.

Research citations

The sources behind this verdict.

1other. Bitter Melon — LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury, 2023. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
2PubMed. Momordica charantia L.—Diabetes-Related Bioactivities, Quality Control, and Safety Considerations, 2022. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
3EFSA. Commodity risk assessment of Momordica charantia fruits from Mexico, 2021. efsa.europa.eu
4PubMed. Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) possess developmental toxicity as revealed by screening the seeds and fruit extracts in zebrafish embryos, 2019. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
5FSSAI. Food Safety and Standards (Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals…) Regulations — Permitted Nutraceutical Ingredients List, 2017. fssai.gov.in
6PubMed. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia): a review of efficacy and safety, 2003. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Independently researched6 citations