Bitter melon is a tall-growing annual plant cultivated in Asia, Africa, South America, and India. The plant

has lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and edible but bitter-tasting orange-yellow tropical fruit. The unripe

fruit is green and cucumber-shaped with surface bumps. The fruit, leaves, seeds, seed oil, and roots

are used. The plant has been used as a traditional medicine in China, India,

Africa, and the southeastern US.