Bitter Gourd Seed: A Natural Plant Unit with Immense Anti-proliferative Activities and Active Constituents

Over the last few decades, seed-mediated nutraceutical-based research for dietary phytonutrients has expanded on a large scale. But most often, the seeds of the edibles are excluded as worthless material, beyond having enough understanding about their efficiency as an origin of biologically effective resources. Momordica charantia Linn. commonly noted as Bitter gourd or Bitter melon is a therapeutic vine under the family Cucurbitaceae, which is widely located in most Asian subcontinents, including Bangladesh, Malaysia, China, India, and tropical Africa. It is one of the popular health-promoting vegetables with multifunctionality, consisting of different active natural components, including proteins, triterpenes, steroids, saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids, and so on. Bitter melon has been shown in experimental trials with multiple controls to be profitable for diabetes and other pharmacological activities; for example, it shows a positive response toward oxidative stress-related ailments along with antimicrobial as well as anti-fertility and anticarcinogenic activities. M. charantia fruits are generally adopted as a cooked food element. These fruits appear in a variety of structures and sizes starting from a slender body with sharp ends to a surface covered by spiked triangular-shaped “teeth” and edges; normally, they are found in two different color varieties, either green or white. There are numerous transitional types between these two extremes. Some bear small fruits that are barely 6–10 cm long and can be eaten separately as stuffed vegetables. These small fruits are famous in the majority of the Southern part of Asia along with India. The diameter of the pods is small and color-wise it is a vivid orange, with distinctive red seeds inside when they are at their ripening stage. In the recent past, the seeds of M. charantia came into prominence for their huge nutritive assessment and meditative exposures. It is observed that these seeds possess several fundamental phytochemicals, including several necessary enzymes like urease, together with some important amino acids, both essential and non-essential, thus making them be utilized in food industries further. In addition to these phytonutrients, the volatile oil of bitter gourd seed also contains 9cis, 11trans, and 13trans-conjugated linoleic acid at an extensive level that enhances them to initiate apoptosis significantly in colon cancer and other cell lines. Several other studies suggest the seed components show anticarcinogenic effects on other types of cancer cells. Therefore, in the context of “Waste to Wealth Conversion,” the above facts and findings make us focus on reviewing the phytochemistry and medicinal importance of bitter gourd and its seed components in detail which may pave the way to anticancer and anti-proliferative drug development in the future and thereafter open a new path in the conventional way of treatment.