Bitter gourd and Paddy Straw Mushroom

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) belongs to Cucurbitaceae family. Every part of bitter gourd plant is bitter, most common names of Momordica charantia is bitter gourd and bitter melon. Volvariella volvacea is generally used as an edible mushroom. It belongs to the family Pluteaceae of the Basidiomycetes. This mushroom also has some other common names such as paddy straw mushroom, straw mushroom and Chinese mushroom. It was cultivated in China in 1822. Straw mushroom at present has fifth rank in global mushroom market and usually grows in the tropical and subtropical regions of different countries. Bitter gourd is most important crop that is grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, the major producing countries of bitter gourd production such as such as China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Africa.This book introduces that foliar application of boric acid helps to improves the flowering and fruit yield. Bitter gourd has high nutritional and medicinal properties.