They are over ripe. You can't eat them (most people do not unless they are green), but you can save the seeds.

Thanks Violet. The seeds should be better than the green ones since they are ripe.

Remove the seeds from the ripe fruit.
.Spread the seeds on news paper and let them dry. Once the red pulp covering seeds dries out remove the pulp and you will see the almost rectangular seeds slightly pointed at one of the narrow side.Seeds are brown in color.Plant the seeds next summer for fresh green Bitter melons.

Chiman

Thanks for the seed saving tip, Chamen. I was trying to let the red material dry but it would have molded in a plastic bag if I had not removed it.

You can remove the red pulp (we usually do that here), and continue drying the seeds a little more before planting.

Right... you don't have to wait for the red pulp to dry, just rub it off with your fingers under running water over a strainer. Rinse the seeds until they're free of debris, let dry on newspaper and you're good to go.

Thanks for all your seed saving tips. Saving seeds in the fall can be overwhelming, & any time savers are much appreciated.

Usually I wait til the melon is yellow so I can stuff them with seasoned ground pork and then steam them for a nice dinner.

Different cultures willl eat fruit at different stages of ripeness....

;)