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Dean becomes sidetracked and forgets something very important to Jean; together, they prepare some Bitter Gourd Soup.

Traditionally Momordica charantia (Bitter gourd) is known for its blood glucose lowering potential. This has been validated by many previous studies based on rodent models but human trials are less convincing and the physiological mechanisms underlying the bioactivity of Bitter gourd are still unclear. The present study compared the effects of whole fruit or stems-leaves from five different Bitter gourd cultivars on metabolic control in adult diabetic obese Göttingen Minipigs. Twenty streptozotocin-induced diabetic (D) obese Minipigs (body weight ~85 kg) were subdivided in mildly and overtly D pigs and fed 500 g of obesogenic diet per day for a period of three weeks, supplemented with 20 g dried powdered Bitter gourd or 20 g dried powdered grass as isoenergetic control in a cross-over, within-subject design. Bitter gourd fruit from the cultivars \"Palee\" and \"Good healthy\" reduced plasma fructosamine concentrations in all pigs combined (from 450±48 to 423±53 and 490±50 to 404±48 [mu]mol/L, both p3.9-fold) and \"Good healthy\" (>8.9-fold) compared to the mean of the other three cultivars. Bitter gourd stems and leaves from the cultivar \"Bilai\" increased plasma insulin concentrations in all pigs combined by 28% (from 53±6 to 67±9 pmol/L, p<0.03). The other two cultivars of stems and leaves showed consistent numerical but no significant increases in plasma insulin concentrations. The effects on plasma insulin concentrations were confirmed in mildly D pigs but not in overtly D pigs. Fruits of Bitter gourd improve glycemic control and stems-leaves of Bitter gourd increase plasma insulin concentrations in an obese pig model for mild diabetes. The effects of Bitter gourd fruit on glycemic control seem consistent but relatively small and cultivar specific which may explain the varying results of human trials reported in the literature.

Traditionally Momordica charantia (Bitter gourd) is known for its blood glucose lowering potential. This has been validated by many previous studies based on rodent models but human trials are less convincing and the physiological mechanisms underlying the bioactivity of Bitter gourd are still unclear. The present study compared the effects of whole fruit or stems-leaves from five different Bitter gourd cultivars on metabolic control in adult diabetic obese Göttingen Minipigs. Twenty streptozotocin-induced diabetic (D) obese Minipigs (body weight ~85 kg) were subdivided in mildly and overtly D pigs and fed 500 g of obesogenic diet per day for a period of three weeks, supplemented with 20 g dried powdered Bitter gourd or 20 g dried powdered grass as isoenergetic control in a cross-over, within-subject design. Bitter gourd fruit from the cultivars \"Palee\" and \"Good healthy\" reduced plasma fructosamine concentrations in all pigs combined (from 450±48 to 423±53 and 490±50 to 404±48 [mu]mol/L, both p3.9-fold) and \"Good healthy\" (>8.9-fold) compared to the mean of the other three cultivars. Bitter gourd stems and leaves from the cultivar \"Bilai\" increased plasma insulin concentrations in all pigs combined by 28% (from 53±6 to 67±9 pmol/L, p<0.03). The other two cultivars of stems and leaves showed consistent numerical but no significant increases in plasma insulin concentrations. The effects on plasma insulin concentrations were confirmed in mildly D pigs but not in overtly D pigs. Fruits of Bitter gourd improve glycemic control and stems-leaves of Bitter gourd increase plasma insulin concentrations in an obese pig model for mild diabetes. The effects of Bitter gourd fruit on glycemic control seem consistent but relatively small and cultivar specific which may explain the varying results of human trials reported in the literature.

The yield and quality of an annual crop are highly dependent on uniform and rapid germination of the seeds. In case of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), the germination and field emergence is always a problem as seeds have thick and hard seed coat. Pre-sowing hydro-priming is one of the most suitable, affordable, easily available, and cost-effective techniques in breaking down seed dormancy to enhance germination. Hence, a field experiment was conducted in Surkhet district of Nepal 2020 to assess the effect of different hydro-priming duration on germination and seedling growth of bitter gourd. The experiment was laid out in single factor Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications and seven treatments including different hydro-priming durations (T0: control, T1: 6 hours, T2: 12 hours, T3: 18 hours, T4: 24 hours, T5: 36 hours and T6: 48 hours) of bitter gourd seeds of Palee variety, the most popular variety among the farmers. The highest water uptake and germination were found in 48 hours of seed hydro-primed seeds whereas the lowest water uptake and germination were observed on non-primed seeds. Similarly, the tallest seedling, most vigorous seedling in terms of seedling vigour index I and II was observed in 48 hours hydro-primed seeds followed by 36 hours of seed hydro-priming and shortest seedling and the least vigorous seedling in control. Thus 48 hours of seed hydro-priming was found to be effective for increasing germination and seedling growth in bitter gourd, which needs to be further investigated under large, open-field conditions with different varieties.

Some of the World’s most valuable crops, including watermelon, honey melon, cucumber, squash, zucchini and pumpkin, belong to the family Cucurbitaceae. We review insights on their domestication from new phylogenies, archaeology and genomic studies. Ancestral state estimation on the most complete Cucurbitaceae phylogeny to date suggests that an annual life cycle may have contributed to domestication. Domestication started c. 11 000 years ago in the New World and Asia, and apparently more recently in Africa. Some cucurbit crops were domesticated only once, others multiple times (e.g. melon from different Asian and African populations). Most wild cucurbit fruits are bitter and nonpalatable to humans, and nonbitterness of the pulp apparently was a trait favoured early during domestication, with genomic data showing how bitterness loss was achieved convergently. The genetic pathways underlying lycopene accumulation, red or orange pulp colour, and fruit size and shape are only just beginning to be understood. The study of cucurbit domestication in recent years has benefitted from the increasing integration of archaeological and genomic data with insights from herbarium collections, the most efficient way to understand species’ natural geographic ranges and climate adaptations.

Chronic kidney disease patients are restricted to foods with high potassium content but our daily diets including melon are rich in potassium. Therefore, we investigated the production of low-potassium melon through hydroponic nutrient management in soilless culture using perlite substrate during autumn season of 2012, 2014 and spring season of 2016. In the first study, melon plants were supplied with 50% standard 'Enshi' nutrient solution until first 2 weeks of culture. In 3rd and 4th week, amount of applied potassium was 50, 75, 100, and 125% of required potassium nitrate for each plant per week (based on our previous study). It was found that, melon plants grown with 50% of its required potassium nitrate produced fruits with about 53% low-potassium compared to control. In the following study, four cultivars viz. Panna, Miyabi shunjuukei, Miyabi akifuyu412, and Miyabi soushun banshun309 were evaluated for their relative suitability of low-potassium melon production. Results showed insignificant difference in fruit potassium content among the cultivars used. Source of potassium fertilizer as potassium nitrate and potassium sulfate and their restriction (from 1 or 2 weeks after anthesis) were also studied. There were no influences on fruit potassium content and yield due to sources of potassium fertilizer and restriction timings. In our previous studies, it was evident that potassium can be translocated from leaves to fruits at maturity when it was supplied nutrient without potassium. Thus, we also studied total number of leaves per plant (23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 leaves per plant). It was evident that fruit potassium, yield, and quality were not influenced significantly due to differences in number of leaves per plant. These studies showed that restriction of potassium nitrate in the culture solution from anthesis to harvest could produce melon fruits with low-potassium (>20%) content compared to potassium content of greenhouse grown melon (340 mg/100 g FW). Quality testing and clinical validation of low-potassium melon also showed positive responses compared to greenhouse grown melon.

The species Cucumis melo L. includes two neglected and underutilized vegetable crops, cucumber melon ( C. melo subsp. melo var. chate ) and snake melon ( C. melo subsp. melo var. flexuosus ). In particular, cucumber melon was highly popular in Mediterranean civilizations during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, whereas today its cultivation is mostly confined to the Salento area of southern Italy. Here, we describe the collection and characterization of thirteen cucumber melon and two snake melon populations from Salento. Whole-genome resequencing of DNA pools was performed to investigate genetic diversity within and among populations. The cucumber melon population UBGCMC111, most widely cultivated and marketed, exhibited the lowest heterozygosity, possibly reflecting more intense selection by farmers. Hierarchical clustering revealed genetic divergence of UBGCMC111 and UBGCMC053, the latter originating from a unique area of Salento with linguistic and cultural ties to Greek heritage. Despite some unique patterns of variation, snake melons clustered together with cucumber melons, suggesting overall genetic similarity. A total of 1,307 alleles were fixed and private to different populations under study, potentially valuable for their traceability. Some of them were associated with genes possibly underlying deeply grooved and pale green pepo phenotypes of the populations UBGCMC111 and UBGCMC124, respectively. Replicated field trials enabled germplasm characterization and the selection of agronomically superior populations. Overall, this study safeguards valuable C. melo genetic diversity from further genetic erosion. Additionally, it provides genomic and phenotypic data laying a foundation for integrating unexplored genetic resources into mainstream agrifood systems and breeding programs.