Characteristics and Nutrition of Taiwan's Small and Medium-Sized Bitter Gourd Varieties Hualien No. 1 to Hualien No. 6
The Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station of the Council of Agriculture bred 6 small and medium-sized bitter gourd varieties, "Hualien No. 1" to "Hualien No. 6," using crossbreeding technology.The medicinal efficacy of wild bitter gourd is relatively good; authorized organic farms and biotechnology companies have produced and marketed them for many years, and fresh fruits and processed health products are widely popular among the public in the market. In June, organically cultivated fresh wild bitter gourds will be launched on the market one after another, and the public can be the first to taste them fresh and cool down.
The Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station selected excellent bitter gourd lines with high female-flower characteristics and, using crossbreeding technology, successively bred 7 excellent first-generation hybrid varieties with heterosis and high yield, "Hualien No. 1-7," between 2005 and 2019. Except for "Hualien No. 2" and "Hualien No. 7," whose fruits are whitish, the fruits of the rest are all green. Among the 6 wild bitter gourd varieties currently authorized for production and sale, the fruits of "Hualien No. 1-3" and "Hualien No. 6" are about 150-220 g, about 1/3 the weight of large bitter gourds, and are very suitable for small families to eat; while "Hualien No. 4" and "Hualien No. 5" are dark green, and their fruit size and the pointed protrusions on the fruit surface are also the closest to wild bitter gourd, with fruits about 20-50 g, suitable for making specialty dishes or processing as health foods.
The Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station pointed out that because wild bitter gourd tastes more bitter with a sweet aftertaste than ordinary bitter gourd, and the charantin it contains has a bitter taste, which becomes a bitter-sweet taste after cooking, it has the effects of promoting appetite, quenching thirst, cooling, and relieving heat; its texture is between that of cultivated large bitter gourd and wild small bitter gourd, and it is suitable for various culinary dishes such as eating fresh, making soup, and stir-frying; moreover, all 6 wild bitter gourd varieties have a high fruit-setting rate, and the fruits contain high amounts of vitamin C and folic acid and have high antioxidant capacity. They can not only be used as ordinary vegetables, but have also participated in experimental research by the bitter gourd research team of the National Science Council's National Biotechnology Program, confirming that they contain a variety of excellent health-functional components.
The variety rights of the bitter gourd varieties "Hualien No. 1-6" have been authorized to manufacturers that actually mass-produce and market them, including Hualien's Qilaimedi Organic Farm, Rencheng Organic Farm, and Fenghe Organic Farm. After 2 months of cultivation, they will all be harvested and launched on the market one after another in June this year. They can be purchased in organic stores, and consumers can also contact the various organic farms directly to buy the freshest wild bitter gourd.
