ABSTRACT
The importance of medicinal plants in treating numerous ailments including diabetes mellitus has been described and well-studied for centuries. Diabetes mellitus is one of the prevalent physiological disorders throughout the globe; characteristics of it are impaired glucose tolerance along with insulin deficiency. Several plants are being used as dietary supplements in the treatment of many diseases; Momordica charantia is one such herbal plant which has gained attention for having potent antidiabetic properties. M. charantia, commonly referred to as bitter gourd or karela, is widely in use for its antidiabetic and antihyperglycaemic properties, along with its antiviral and antitumour properties. Bitter gourd is a herbal plant geographically found in tropical and subtropical regions and belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. It comprises several metabolic components, mainly triterpenes, proteins, phenolic compounds, and steroids. Abundant preclinical studies have been documented on the antidiabetic property of bitter gourd and various mechanisms involved are hypothesized. However, data on a human clinical trial is limited and poorly studied. We aimed to review the physiological significance of M. charantia on the glucose level of the blood along with the involvement of molecular pathways.
