Bitter Gourd Research Paper

3122 Words13 Pages
- 1 - 1 Introduction Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia in the family of Cucurbitaceae) is a widely popular vegetable grown extensively in several parts of India and in countries like Africa, China, Caribean and Southeast asian regions (Cefalu et al, 2008 and Cousens, 2008). Bitter gourd is a herbaceous climbing annual with ridged stems that grows up to 5 metre long. The plant usually grows on trellis 180 cm in height and has a hairy stem with numerous branches and dense foliage. The main varieties of bitter gourd grown in India are Arka Harit, Priyanka, Pusa Do Mausmi, VK-1-Priya, Phule Green Gold, Priya, Preethi, Coimbatore Long, Phule Ujawala, Phule Priyanka and Pride of Gujarat. Priyanka is the widely cultivated variety in south Kerala (Balachandran,…show more content…
Food losses due to crop infections from pathogens are persistent issues in agriculture sector for centuries. These disease induced damages in crops during growth, harvest and postharvest processes. India being an agro-based economy, farmers faces a lot of problem in detecting and preventing diseases in leaves of plant. 1.1 Nutrition, medicinal properties and its uses Bitter gourd leaves contain many bioactive constituents full of medicinal properties. Bitter gourd is a good source of vitamin A, B, C, E and K, carbohydrates, phosphorus, Ca, Fe, Mg and Na (Abascal et al, 2005). Bitter gourd fruit and leaves are being studied for their hypoglycaemic, blood sugar lowering properties and ability to treat diabetes mellitus. The caloric value for leaves, fruit and seed were 213.26, 241.66 and 176.61 Kcal/100g respectively (Baby joseph et al, 2013). An extract of the leaves has anti-viral, anti-microbial and anti-bacterial properties and also used in treating various diseases. There are various uses for bitter gourd plant The leaves are used for treatment of wide variety of ailments such as diabetes, dysentery, rheumatism and gout, viral diseases, respiratory ailments and effective…show more content…
Symptoms are noticed on leaves, stem, petioles, and fruits. Numerous water soaked depressed oval spot appears on young fruits, - 3 - which integrates covering large area. Pink masses of spores can be seen in the center of these spots under humid conditions. Due to exudation of spores pink gummy emissions may also be seen on lesions. Vines have brownish specks that grow into angular and to circular spots (Tripathi, 2011). Girdling of affected portion pointed to blight symptoms are shown in Figure 1.1(f). In plants infected by mosaic disease, the younger leaves unfold very late showing complete chlorosis followed by green vein banding. The older leaves display prominent dark green raised blisters. The malformed leaves assume a filiform shape (Tripathi, 2011). Mosaic mottling, twisting and curling of leaves, shortening of internodes, stunted growth are common symptoms of mosaic disease as shown in Figure 1.2(a). 1.3 Leaf structure Leaves are adapted to execute their function and have a large surface area to absorb sunlight. Leaves enable photosynthesis to occur. Plants have different types of transport tissue, phloem and xylem, that move substances in and around the plant. Water evaporates from the leaves,
Show More
Related

  • Mango Festival Essay

    1015 Words  | 5 Pages

    Mango Fest & Musical Night held at ACI Center On Friday, 12 June 2015, a ‘Mango Festival and Musical Night’ was organized by Rajshahi Zela Samity, Dhaka at ACI Center, Dhaka. The grand festivity took place to rejoice and celebrate the season of mangoes. Starting from 4 pm the festival continued till 8 pm. Dr. F. H. Ansarey, Executive Director of ACI Agribusiness greeted the august gathering and all the guests were served with a variety of delicious mangoes and other seasonal fruits. An awareness

    Read More

  • Agricultural Vegetable Market

    1906 Words  | 8 Pages

    1. INTRODUCTION Marketing of agricultural crops is the most crucial aspect of commercial farming. Farmers’ markets are the places where farmers congregate to sell all types of farm products. These markets play a major role in the distribution of farm produce and exist in a variety of forms like vegetable markets, fruit markets, grain markets etc. Out of these,a vegetable market or ‘sabzi mandi’ can be defined as a place where several producers gather on a regular basis to sell vegetables and fruits

    Read More

  • Heart Of Darkness Analysis

    6370 Words  | 26 Pages

    English Language and Literature Studies; Vol. 5, No. 1; 2015 ISSN 1925-4768 E-ISSN 1925-4776 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 13 Historicizing Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness: A Critique of King Leopold II’s Colonial Rule Isam Shihada1 1 Associate Professor of English Literature and Gender Studies, Department of English, Gaza Strip, Palestine Correspondence: Isam Shihada, Associate Professor of English Literature and Gender Studies, Department of English, Gaza Strip, Palestine

    Read More

  • Plant Genetic Resources In Agriculture

    9984 Words  | 40 Pages

    The ever increasing demand for food and other basic needs has put a lot of pressure on the plant genetic resources (PGR) and diversity particularly in agricultural sector in terms of addressing the accompanied challenges associated with increasing crop productivity. The utilization of PGR in agriculture has not only brought about profound changes in the crop productivity and quality, but has also opened up newer and unforeseen potential vistas including improvement of novel traits by domestication

    Read More

More about Bitter Gourd Research Paper

Open Document