Tissue Culture, Genetic Engineering, and Nanotechnology in Bitter Gourd

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) belongs to the genus Momordica that includes 45 species. It is cultivated extensively in tropical, subtropical, and rarely under temperate climates. The plant is valued in various disciplines of life and natural sciences. It is extensively used for culinary purposes. Its extracts are important for the treatment of a number of diseases and ailments in traditional and modern medicinal systems because of the abundance of insulin-like peptides, a mixture of steroidal sapogenins and alkaloids. It is rarely used as an ornamental plant. There are very few reports on systematic research on agronomic, breeding, and biotechnological aspects that curtail the improvement of this crop plant. This chapter reviews available information on biotechnology in a bitter gourd that will help understand the current scenario and help in making plans for improvement of bitter gourd