Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Lagenaria siceraria (MOLINA) STANDLEY


English Name : Bottle gourd, calabash gourd

Family : Cucurbitaceae

Origin : Asia or Africa

Description
A large, pubescent, climbing or trailing herb with stout, 5-angled stems and bifid tendrils. Leaves to 15 cm diameter, ovate or orbicular, base cordate, margins dentate, usually 5-lobed; petiole long, with 2 glands at its apex. Flowerslarge, white solitary, monoecious or dioecious, the male long and the female short-peduncled; calyx tube funnel-shaped, subcampanulate, teeth 5, narrow, petals 5, free, obovate, crumpled, hairy on both sides. Fruits of variable size and shape, but usually bottle-shaped, up to 1.8 m long, with a hard, durable, smooth shell. Seeds numerous, white, smooth, horizontally compressed with marginal groove.

Parts Used : Fruit and leaves.

Herb Effects
Antibiotic, antidote, diuretic, emetic, febrifuge, lithontripic, odontalgic, poultice, purgative, vermifuge.

Active Ingredients
Arginine, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, choline, cucurbitacin B, cucurbitacin D, folacin, histidine, linoleic acid, lysine, methionine, niacin, oleic acid, palmitic acid, phenylalanine, riboflavin, stearic acid, thiamin, threonine, tryptophan, valine (fruit).

Medicinal Use
To treat headaches, aching teeth and gums, boils etc. It is also used for the treatment for diabetes mellitus.

Reference

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