• +00 123 4567
  • support@exotic-seeds.store
exotic-seeds.store
exotic-seeds.store
No products in the cart.
0 items
€0.00
Shipping Total €0.00
View Cart
Checkout
Shopping Cart €0.00
Menu
Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia) | €5.75
Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia) | €5.75
Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia) | €5.75
Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia) | €5.75
Previous
Next
Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia) | €5.75
Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia) | €5.75
Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia) | €5.75
Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia) | €5.75

Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia)

SKU V 7 G Category Home
€5.75

Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia)

Price per pack of 5 seeds.

This is the biggest Bitter Melon that exists, it reaches a length of over 45 centimeters and a width of 6 centimeters! After several years, we managed to extract the largest fruits and

Seeds in pack:
Add to Cart
Share on
Facebook Twitter Pinterest

Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia)

Price per pack of 5 seeds.

This is the biggest Bitter Melon that exists, it reaches a length of over 45 centimeters and a width of 6 centimeters! After several years, we managed to extract the largest fruits and store and sow those seeds, finally for the third year in a row we get the same fruits that are really huge!

If the Balsam Pear did not exist a pharmaceutical company would invent it.  In fact, there have been some ten studies published this past year about it, the latest as of this writing in February 2008 in the Journal of Food Biochemistry about its potential in diabetes treatment.

A very common, bitter vegetable in Asian cuisine,  the Balsam Pear, Momordica charantia,  is a natural drug store for diabetics and others. It’s not a pear at all but a fruiting gourd and vine that smells like an old, well-used gym shoe. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

The warty gourd is edible when green (and cooked) but turns toxic when orange ripe. It then splits characteristically into three parts, revealing red arils (fleshy seed covers).  The ripe seeds inside the arils and orange flesh of the gourd are toxic and can make one violently lose fluids from both ends, and induce abortions. The red arils around the seeds, however, are edible. And notice this: The arils are 96% lycopene, which gives them their color. Just remember to spit out the seed from each aril.
M. charantia is found Connecticut south to Florida, west to Texas, also Puerto Rico and the Hawaiian Islands. Incidentally, the bitter melon has twice the potassium of bananas and is also rich in vitamin A and C.
 
The Latin genus name, Momordica, (mo-MOR-dee-ka)  means “to bite,” and refers to the jagged edges of the leaves, which appear as if they have been bitten. Charantia (char-AN-tee-ah) the species’ name, comes from Greek meaning beautiful flower.  It’s native to tropical regions of the world though no one knows where it came from originally. Gray’s four-inch thick Manual of Botany, started in 1850 and revised in 1950, makes no mention of M. charantia in the United States but it is currently a serious crop weed in Florida and to 21 other crops around the world, bananas to soybeans. It’s a late comer to Florida or Gray was in the dark about it. In the Amazon, and as far away as India, it is used very much by local populations for food and medicine.  Apparently a  dynamic chemical factory, the M. charantia is being tested for treatment against cancer — leukemia in particular —  AIDS, as an analgesic, and to moderate insulin resistance. It is often called the vegetable insulin. It does not increase insulin secretion but “speeds up carbohydrate use of the cells by affecting membrane lipids.” Seems like the smelly gym shoe hanging on the fence has a great future. But, it is not for everyone: Don’t eat the vegetable if you’re hypoglycemic or pregnant. In diabetics it can lower blood sugar too effectively. It also reduces fertility in men and women.  And, it contains vicine. That can cause favism in people who have a variant glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. (I presume if you don’t know what that is you don’t have it. Favism is a severe reaction to fava beans and or their pollen. Occurs most often in Mediterranean men.)
Cultivated versions of the M. charantia, also called Bitter Gourd or Wild Balsam Apple, are found in most Asian markets, and they, too, smell like an old gym shoe. The odor, thankfully, almost all goes away when cooked and the bitterness moderates, but does not go away. If you are not yet brave enough to pick your own, you can buy some or grow it yourself. There are many varieties and numerous recipes are on the Internet. The M. charantia is indeed bitter. Some cut up the vegetable and soak it in water, or salted water and or blanch it  to reduce the bitterness.
While I have never seen an Oriental family picking M. charantia off local fences here in Florida, I have seen many Hispanic families doing so.  Dr. Julia Morton, a plant professor in south Florida,  says besides the green fruit, the young leaves when cooked and drained are also edible and nutritious, with iron, phosphorous, calcium and vitamin C. I have never managed to get past the locker room bouquet to toss ‘em in a pot, and the fruit is just too bitter for me to enjoy. The ripe fruit pulp has been used as a soap substitute, which should give you some idea of the flavor. In India and Africa the cooked leaves are canned like spinach. The fragrant flowers can be used as seasoning when cooking.
 
Incidentally, if you have a glut of green Bitter Gourds, you can slice them, partially boil them with salted water, then dry them, sun or otherwise. They will last for several months. You can then fry them and use as you like. Also, drinking the fresh bitter juice is recommended by some naturopaths. That ain’t going to be easy, it’s really bitter…. much easier to tell someone to do it than do it yourself.
 
REMEMBER: No part of the Momordica charantia is ever to be eaten raw, except for the red arils (and remember to spit the seeds out.)  No part, other than the arils, is ever to be eaten when ripe, which is when it is turning from green to yellow to orange. Do not eat the yellow or orange fruit raw or cooked. It is toxic. Also, the green fruit is suspected in the poisoning of dogs and pigs.
 
Relatives: Momordica balsamina, which has longer spines on the fruit and can ripen to red, grows only in St. Lucie County in Florida and only a smattering of places in the southern U.S.  M. balsamina fruit can be pickled or after soaking used as a cooked vegetable. Young shoots and tendrils are boiled as a green. The seeds are eaten.  Momordica cochinchinensis produces a huge round fruit that is red when ripe. Young fruit boiled, not as bitter as M. charantia. Momordica dioica, small and roundish,  is more esteemed than the rest. It is not bitter but sweet. Fruits, shoots, leaves and roots are boiled for food. There are also at least seven commercial cultivars of the Momordica gourds
IDENTIFICATION: Momordica charantia: A slender, climbing annual vine to 18 feet with long-stalked leaves and yellow flowers where the leaf meets the stem. Young fruit emerald green turning to orange when ripe. At maturity, fruit splits into three irregular parts that curl backwards showing many reddish-brown or white seeds encased in scarlet arils.
 
TIME OF YEAR: Fruit, summer and fall in warm climates, fall in northern climes.
 
ENVIRONMENT: Love to climb, found in hammocks, disturbed sites, turf and ornamental landscapes, and citrus groves . It seems to be the most common vine on chain link fences in Florida.
 
METHOD OF PREPARATION: None of it ripe except the arils. Boiled green fruit (including seeds) leaves and shoots, boiled twice. Or, cut open and remove seeds and fiber and parboil.  Ripe parts toxic are too bitter to eat.  (An adult can swallow hole two ripe seed and not have much distress.) Young leaves and shoots are boiled and eaten as a potherb. Flowers used as seasoning.
 
HERB BLURB
Herbalists say the charantia has long been used to treat diabetes and a host of other ailments from arthritis to jaundice.

 

Sowing Instructions

Propagation:

Seeds

Pretreat:

preswollen 2 days in water

Stratification:

0

Sowing Time:

all year round

Sowing Depth:

0,5-1 cm

Sowing Mix:

Coir or sowing mix + sand or perlite

Germination temperature:

20 - 25° C

Location:

bright + keep constantly moist not wet

Germination Time:

1-4 weeks

Watering:

Water regularly during the growing season

 


Seeds Gallery 05.11.2012.

 
Category Home Brand Seeds Gallery In stock 55 Items Reference V 7 G
HEIRLOOM ? Yes
Organic Seeds ? Organic Seeds
Organic/natural ? Organic/Natural: Yes
Edible ? Edible
Pretreatment of sowing ? Soak in water before sowing: 24-48 h
Sowing depth ? Sowing depth 1 cm
Handpicked seeds ? Handpicked seeds
Manufacturer ? Manufacturer: Seeds Gallery
Medicinal Plant ? Medicinal Plant: Yes
Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia) | €5.75
Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia) | €5.75
Comments (0)
No customer reviews for the moment.

  • 🌍 Worldwide Shipping from the EU

    We ship worldwide from the European Union using registered air post with signature confirmation on delivery.

    📦 Tracking Your Order

    • Log in to your account and go to Order History > Details to find your tracking number.

    • You will receive email notifications at every step — please check your spam/junk folder if you don’t see them.

    • Track your package via:

    ⚠️ Important Notices

    • Cash on delivery is not available.

    • Always provide a valid mobile number with country code when ordering (e.g., +365 456 7686 576).

    • Do not order to P.O. Boxes or if you cannot be home to sign for the package. We cannot leave parcels with neighbors.

    • If a package sent to a P.O. Box is lost or undelivered, you lose the right to a refund.

    📦 Lost, Returned & Reshipping Packages

    • For customers in Brazil and Mexico:

      • We cannot refund packages lost or destroyed by customs.

      • If your package is returned, we will refund only the product cost — shipping costs are not refundable.

      • You must pay return postage (€2) and any costs for reshipping.

    • If a package is returned to us for any reason, you are responsible for paying the return shipping (€2) plus the cost to resend the package.

    🚚 Shipment Delivery

    • Registered shipments require a signature from the recipient.

    • If your tracking shows the package is still at the origin post office, it means the package is in transit — please contact your local post office directly for updates.

    • We are not responsible for delivery times and cannot track shipments for you.

    📅 Delivery Options & Estimated Times

    Delivery OptionProcessing TimeNotes
    Priority DeliveryShips in 1-7 business daysPrioritizes order processing (not guaranteed faster delivery); delays possible during holidays (3-10 days)
    Secured DeliveryShips in 1-7 business daysAvailable for orders up to €150; refund if lost
    Standard DeliveryShips in 7-10 business daysMore economical; delays possible during holidays (7-14 days)

    Estimated Delivery Time:

    • Within the EU: 3–20 days

    • Worldwide: 5–30 days

    Example delivery times to the USA:
    Delivered in 13, 17, 19, 22, or 27 days.

    Note: Delivery times depend on your location and the local postal system. COVID-19 may cause additional delays.

    💰 Shipping Costs

    • Shipping and handling fees are calculated automatically during checkout based on the weight of the parcel and the destination country.

    ⏰ Order Processing Hours

    • We do not process or ship orders on Saturdays or Sundays.

    💳 Payment Options

    • Bank Transfer (SEPA / IBAN / SWIFT-BIC)
      Include your order reference in the payment description (e.g., "SGS-19811702"). Orders without payment within 7 days are automatically cancelled.

    • PayPal
      Payments accepted in Euros only. Please select Euros at checkout.

    • Card Payment
      For card payments, visit our other site: Exotic Seeds Store
      We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, CB, Diners Club, Discover, China UnionPay, JCB, and Discover.

    ⚠️ Transaction Fees

    • Customers are responsible for any transaction fees. Please provide payment details to help us process your order efficiently.

    📢 Final Notes

    • Before placing your order, please check our website for any special notices, holiday schedules, or specific conditions that may affect your purchase.

Related Products

Previous
Next