Abstract
Momordica charantia fruit (bitter gourd) has been considered an effective antidiabetic agent for many
years. In any attempt to screen the alleged activity, blood glucose levels of normal
and alloxan-diabetic male albino rabbits treated orally with various doses of dried
Momordica charantia friut were determined by the O-toludine method after various time intervals.
In normal rabbits, the 0.25 g/kg dose did not decrease blood glucose. However, 0.5
g/kg dose caused decrease in blood glucose. The effect was maximum at a 10 hour interval,
after which it decreased gradually. The 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg doses also lowered the blood
glucose of these rabbits. The maximum decrease was produced by these doses at 10 hours
intervals. In diabetic rabbits, the 0.25 g/kg and 0.5 g/kg doses did not cause a significant
decrease in blood glucose. However, 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg doses produced dose dependent
decreases in blood glucose levels. The maximum decrease was observed at 10 hours intervals.
From the results, it could be concluded that Momordica charantia fruit possessed a significant and consistent hypoglycaemic effect in normal and alloxandiabetic
rabbits. The results obtained are discussed in the light of the available literature.
It is suggested that probably Momordica charantia contains more than one type of hypoglycaemic principles.
Key Word Index
Momordica charantia - Cucurbitaceae - Hypoglycaemic Effect - Alloxan-Diabetes - Rabbits
