I assume you are referring to Momordica charantia, aka Bitter Melon or Balsam Pear? It is a less well-known (in the USA) member of the Cucurbitaceae family. We do not know enough about the fresh bitter gourds you have, unless you harvested them yourself, to know if they were fully mature when harvested. When you harvest for seed-saving from members of the cucurbit family, it is best to let the fruit get overripe. For example, with cucumbers you leave them onto the vine until they turn yellowish-orange. I think the same thing would be true of bitter melon/bitter gourd if you wanted to save seed from it. With cucurbits, in order to harvest the best and the most seeds to plant, it is best to leave the fruit on the vine for about 3 weeks after you'd harvest it to eat. That extra time on the vine allows the seeds to mature. So, if your bitter gourds had enough time on the vine, the seeds likely are viable (assuming they were pollinated by insects). The only way to know is to try some. Scoop them out of the bitter melon and let them dry. You should dry them to the point that you can snap one in half. If they bend but don't break, they aren't dry enough. Then you can plant them or store them. Bitter melon seeds germinate in a week or two in really warm conditions (soil temps between 75 and 85 degrees). If you want, you can ferment the seeds before drying them. Fermentation often will kill some disease pathogens and also often gives you a higher germination rate. Bitter melon seeds are very hard once dried, so to increase the odds of getting good germination, scarify the seed coat by nicking it with a knife, but don't cut too deeply into the seed. You just want to nick the coat, not cut the whole seed in half. If you want to buy bitter melon seeds, they are available from several online retailers. I think the first time I bought any it either was from Seed Savers Exchange or from Willhite Seeds, but that was a long time ago. Evergreen Seeds would have several varieties of bitter gourd/bitter melons, and so will Kitazawa Seeds, which I've linked below. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Kitazawa Seed---Bitter Melon Selections

My L. sempervirens 'John Clayton' is not fragrant, but comes to mind as it is already budding up to bloom. Quite amazing. There are sorts of the species periclymenum like 'G S Thomas' that are very fragrant. A more commonly sold sort, L. heckrotii'Goldflame' is listed as fragrant in my forestfarm catalog. I cannot guess which sort you have. You are correct in assuming that a label would usually mention fragrance, if it existed.

In case you missed my first post, i am a gaggenau rep and chef, here to answer cooking questions with no sales pitch. if you have a specific question, i will do my best to answer if i have already tried it. rotisserie pineapple: peel the pineapple leaving it whole. mix butter, dark rum, brown sugar 1:1:1, or adjust based on your preferences, in a saucepan until warm and melted together, add a pinch of cinnamon (to your preferences). place pineapple in a dish, pour warm mix over and let sit, turning every few minutes, for about 2o minutes or so. drain off excess, or reheat and pour over ice cream if you want. skewer pineapple on the rotis shaft, set oven to 350 convection broil (in the gaggenau) and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. those who dont have a rotis, remove the green top without cutting the husk, cut the pineapple in half lengthwise, cut or scoop out the pineapple without poking the husk too much (i know, not easy). you can make a foil bowl around the outside if you like, it helps. pour pineapple chunks and rum mix into the halves, and bake or bbq at 350 for 30 minutes, or until warm all through. this helps cut the acid on a not yet ripe pineapple, and makes a great dessert.

El bumpo