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| Latin Names |
English Names |
Sanskrit Name |
Benincasa hispida
Thunb. cogn. /
B. cerifera |
Ash Gourd,
Wax Gourd,
White Gourd, White Pumpkin |
Kushmanda |
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| History |
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The RAJA NIRGHANTU,
an ancient book on therapeutics, gives a long account of its
virtues. Old ripe fruits were selected in preparing medicine.
The pulp was cut into thin strips and the watery juice that
oozed out abundantly, was collected and preserved.
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| Habitat |
It grows throughout
India up to an altitude of 1,200 ft. It is cultivated for its
large sized edible fruit which is used as a vegetable.
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| Morphology
Description (Habit) |
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It is a large climbing
or trailing herb with stout, angular and hispid stems. Leaves are
large and long petioled, 5-7 lobed, reniform-rotund, deeply cordate,
upper surface sparsely pilose and scabrous, lower rigidly hispid and
margin sinuate. The tendrils are slender and short. The flowers are
large, monoecious and solitary in leaf axils. Calyx teeth, when young,
are often narrow and scarcely serrate. The fruits are fleshy, succulent
and densely hairy when young but thickly deposited with white easily
removable waxy bloom when mature. The flesh is white, and spongy.
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| Principal
Constituents |
The fruits contain
11 to 70mg of calcium/100 gm and 0.3-0.45 % of other minerals. Also
0.38 PPM of iodine and 3.5 PPM of fluorine are present other than
the numerous compounds1. b -Sitosterol is identified by
TLC method2.
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| Pharmacology |
It has acid neutralizing
property and ulcer healing activities1.
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| Toxicology |
No adverse effect
is reported from this plant.
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| Indications |
In Ayurvedic literature
it is mentioned that the fruit has tonic, nutritive and diuretic properties.
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| References |
- AHEAD, Wealth of Asia-CD, CSIR, New Delhi.
- Quat. J. Crude Drug Res., 1976, 14, 163.
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