1,383 Bitter Gourd Fruit Medicinal The ripe fruit is a stomach tonic and induces menstruation. The fresh juice of the fruit is taken internally in the treatment of colitis and dysentery. The unripe fruit is used traditionally to treat the symptoms of diabetes, particularly late-onset diabetes. The fruit is used to treat leprosy and malignant ulcers; to treat stomach worms, fever and phlegm; hypertension and dysentery. The fruit is used externally in the treatment of haemorrhoids, chapped skin and burns. 8,444