From Ghanaian Kitchen to Laboratory: UHAS Student Investigates Bitter Melon’s Health Potential
In many Ghanaian communities, bitter melon is simply another plant that finds its way into local kitchens and traditional remedies. But for one final‑year student at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), the familiar plant became the subject of a laboratory investigation into what may be happening beneath its bitter taste.
Ambrose Zuotaa, a final‑year Biochemistry and Molecular Biology student at UHAS, investigated the biological properties of the leaves of Momordica charantia, commonly known as bitter melon and called “nyanya” in parts of Ghana.
The research, conducted under the supervision of Dr. Adjoa A. Boakye of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, focused particularly on the plant’s antioxidant activity and its effects on cell viability.
What began with a plant familiar to many Ghanaians led to a series of laboratory tests designed to determine whether the leaves contain compounds with measurable biological activity.
The researchers first prepared an extract from dried bitter melon leaves using a hydroethanolic solvent. Laboratory screening detected several phytochemicals, including saponins, tannins, steroids, and reducing sugars. Alkaloids and cardiac glycosides, however, were not detected.
The extract also recorded a total phenolic content of 1,265.54 micrograms per millilitre. Phenolic compounds are of particular interest in research because of their association with antioxidant activity.
The next question was whether the extract could actually demonstrate this activity.
Using the DPPH antioxidant assay, the extract’s ability to neutralise free radicals increased from 28.07 per cent at the lowest concentration to 63.66 per cent at the highest concentration tested.
A second test, the ABTS assay, produced an even stronger response, with activity increasing from 36.58 per cent to 77.79 per cent across the same concentration range.
Vitamin C, which was used as the reference antioxidant, performed better than the bitter melon extract. Nevertheless, the increasing activity observed as the extract concentration rose provided laboratory evidence of free‑radical‑scavenging activity in the leaves.
But the investigation did not stop there.
The study also used the MTT assay to examine the effect of the extract on cell viability. Under the experimental conditions, cell viability decreased to as low as 71.16 per cent, compared with 100 per cent viability in untreated cells.
That finding is potentially interesting from a research perspective, but it does not mean that bitter melon has been proven to treat cancer.
The results are preliminary laboratory findings. More research would be required to identify the specific compounds responsible for the observed effects, understand how they work, and establish whether the findings have any practical medical application.
The research nevertheless adds to scientific interest in bitter melon, a plant that has already attracted attention in studies investigating antioxidant and anti‑proliferative properties.
For Ghana, the significance may extend beyond bitter melon itself.
The country has a wide range of plants traditionally used for food and medicinal purposes. Scientific investigations such as this can help researchers determine which plants contain potentially useful biological compounds and provide evidence that can guide future pharmaceutical and biomedical research.
Zuotaa’s work also highlights an important distinction between traditional knowledge and scientific validation. A plant may have been used traditionally for generations, but laboratory research is necessary to establish what biological activity it actually possesses and whether such activity can eventually translate into a safe and effective medical application.
For now, the bitter melon leaves remain a research subject rather than a proven medicine.
The study forms part of Zuotaa’s undergraduate thesis at UHAS and contributes to the growing interest in locally available plants as possible sources of bioactive compounds.
What began as an ordinary Ghanaian plant has therefore become the subject of a scientific question: what else might be hidden in the plants that communities have known for generations?