Most of us have them in our houses without even knowing what they are . we had a lot of them in our hose in the north ,they could be seen in almost every house creeping on the walls. The balsam pear is within the Cucurbitaceae family of plants, along with friends like cucumbers, gourds, luffa, squash, pumpkin and zucchini, it is very rich in vitamin B, vitamin C and is packed with loads of minerals .This relationship can help you identify the balsam pear because it produces a fruit somewhat reminiscent of a gourd or zucchini ,just so you don't get confused by them. The mainly grow on fences ,hedges ,bushes and can be seen entangling themselves with other plants,so yes you can call it a creeping plant.
They start out green but mature to a bright orange colour.
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Eventually the fruit will open, splitting into three parts to reveal the seeds inside a sticky, deep red pulp. The vines can grow to over 15 feet long and even more and may flower for up to six months.
There are actually about 40 species in the Momordica genus, many of which are cultivated for their fruit, particularly in tropical Asia where it is often called bitter gourd. In parts of western Africa, the young fruits are eaten as emergency food. The mature fruits of this wild plants are said to be poisonous.
All parts of the plant are also enlisted for multiple medicinal uses and folk medicine like ridding people and livestock of parasites. Though extracts of the plant are being looked at for use in everything from fighting diabetes to HIV, and lots more.
The fruits can be used for so many medical and health issues and i would be telling you about a few of them.
(1) TO TREAT DIABETES : the bitter taste does justice to diabetes as it drops your blood sugar level drastically.
(2) Treat gastrointestinal problems.
(3) Treat infection:its been used to treat S.T.I'S & S.T.D'S for a very long time now and is proven to be very effective to.
(4) To flush out fibroid: it Is used in dispersing uterine fibroid Seedlings(i.e fibroids in their formative stage)
Treating acute and chronic pelvic inflammatory disease (P.I.D)
(5) A colon cleanser : The drink helps going to the toilet way easier and constant as it help flush your colon and it has a laxative effect for those who are badly constipated and blotted.
(6) blood purifier : the bitter drink would flush toxins out of your blood stream ,help improve blood circulation,and loads more.
(7) worm expeller
(8) Drinking its juice can prevent kidney infections, liver problems, bladder stones ,and even malaria.
(9) lowers your sugar level: it has been proven that drinking a glass early in the morning 2 hours before eating can help drastically reduce your sugar level.
(10)helps in weight loss.: with a good bowel movement, lowered blood sugar, a healthy body and organs, zero worms you definately would be healthier and lose or maintain your healthy weight .
With all its health benefits ,there are still disadvantages ,having excess of the matured fruit could be poisonous.
NUTRITIONAL FACTS:
per 100g
*calories 34
*Total fat 0.2g
Saturated fat 0g
Polyunsaturated fat 0g
Monosaturated fat 0g
*cholesterol omg 0%
*Sodium 13mg 0%
*Potassium 602mg 17%
*TOTAL CARBOHYDRATES 7g 2%
*Dietary fiber 1.9 g 7%
*Sugar 1 g
Protein 3.6g 7%
vitamin A 48%
*Vitamin B-6 40%
*Vitamin C 92%
*Vitamin D 0%
*Calcium 4%
*magnesium 23%
Cobalamin 0%