.jpg)
Trichosanthes cucumerina is a tropical or subtropical vine, raised for its strikingly long fruit, used as a vegetable, medicine, and, a lesser known use, crafting didgeridoos.
Common names include
· snake gourd (var. anguina),
· serpent gourd, chichinga, and padwal.
· It is known as chichinga or chichinge in Bengali,
The narrow, soft-skinned fruit can reach 150 cm long. Its soft, blunt, somewhat mucilaginous flesh is similar to that of the luffa. It is most popular in the cuisine of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The shoots, tendrils and leaves are also eaten as greens.
A complete understanding of medicinal plants involves a number of factors like botany, chemistry, genetics, quality control and pharmacology. In addition there is a large wealth of knowledge in the medicinal and other properties of plants from generation to generation by the tribal societies
Tricosanthes cucumerina is a well known plant .the fruit of which is mainly consumed as a vegetable. It is an annual climber belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. It is commonly called as snake gourd, viper gourd, snake tomato or long tomato. The fruit is usually consumed as a vegetable due to its good nutritional value. The plant is richly constituted with a series of chemical constituents like flavonoids, carotenoids, phenolic acids which makes the plant pharmacologically and therapeutically active. It has a prominent place in alternative systems of medicine like Ayurveda and Siddha due to its various pharmacological activities like antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, cytotoxic, anti inflammatory, larvicidal effects.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF SNAKE GOURD
Item
|
Energy (KCal)
|
Protein (g)
|
Carbohydrate (g)
|
Fat (g)
|
Calcium (mg)
|
Iron (mg)
|
Snake gourd
|
18
|
0.5
|
3.3
|
0.3
|
26
|
1.51
|
Snake Gourd
§ Natural Antibiotic,
§ Expectorant and
§ Laxative
§ Enhances the processing of nutrition in the body
§ Restoring normal function of the system
§ Helps stimulate the production of body fluids
§ High in fiber that Relieves constipation
Nutrition Facts
| ||
Servings Per Recipe: 6
| ||
Serving Size: 1 serving
| ||
 | ||
Amount Per Serving
| ||
| ||
Calories
|
86.2
| |
| ||
Total Fat
|
3.9 g
| |
| ||
Saturated Fat
|
0.5 g
| |
| ||
Polyunsaturated Fat
|
1.5 g
| |
| ||
Monounsaturated Fat
|
1.6 g
| |
| ||
Cholesterol
|
0.0 mg
| |
| ||
Sodium
|
33.0 mg
| |
| ||
Potassium
|
359.1 mg
| |
| ||
Total Carbohydrate
|
12.5 g
| |
| ||
Dietary Fiber
|
0.6 g
| |
| ||
Sugars
|
0.5 g
| |
| ||
Protein
|
2.0 g
| |
| ||
Vitamin A
|
9.8 %
|
| |
Vitamin B-12
|
0.0 %
|
| |
Vitamin B-6
|
11.3 %
|
| |
Vitamin C
|
30.5 %
|
| |
Vitamin D
|
0.0 %
|
| |
Vitamin E
|
1.1 %
|
| |
Calcium
|
5.1 %
|
| |
Copper
|
4.4 %
|
| |
Folate
|
5.6 %
|
| |
Iron
|
5.7 %
|
| |
Magnesium
|
6.7 %
|
| |
Manganese
|
12.5 %
|
| |
Niacin
|
3.8 %
|
| |
Pantothenic Acid
|
3.0 %
|
| |
Phosphorus
|
5.0 %
|
| |
Riboflavin
|
2.7 %
|
| |
Selenium
|
3.1 %
|
| |
Thiamin
|
5.2 %
|
| |
Zinc
|
7.2 %
|
| |
|
|
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. |
Origin and distribution
The genus Trichosanthes is native to Southern and Eastern Asia, Australia and Islands of the western Pacific. Trichosanthes cucumerina is found wild throughout these areas. It was probably domesticated in ancient times in India.
It is grown as a minor vegetable in many countries of tropical Asia. It is locally grown as a vegetable in home gardens in Africa. Commercial growers around big cities in East Africa occasionally grow cultivars of snake gourd imported from India for people of Indian origin. It is also reported from India through Malaya to tropical Australia.
Trichosanthes cucumerina is a newly introduced crop of increasing importance in several parts of Africa, including Ghana and Nigeria. The genus Trichosanthes comprises about 100 species, of which a few have been domesticated in Asia, snake gourd being the most important. Two varieties are distinguished within Trichosanthes cucumerina. They are the wild var. cucumerina occurring
from India, Sri Lanka and China, through South-East Asia, to northern Australia, and the cultivated var. anguina (L.). Only traditional landraces of Trichosanthes cucumerina are used in West and Central Africa, whereas improved cultivars from India are grown in East Africa. It is distributed in temperate Asian regions like china, tropical regions of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan Sri Lanka, Myanmar; Vietnam, Indonesia; Malaysia; Philippines, in Australia it is found in Northern Territory, Queens land
and in Western Australia.
Tribal uses
Tricosanthes cucumerina is used in the treatment of head ache, alopecia, fever, abdominal tumors, bilious, boils, acute colic, diarrohea, haematuria and skin allergy. T.curcumineria is used as an abortifacient, vermifuge, stomachic, refrigerant, purgative, malaria, laxative, hydragogue, hemagglutinant, emetic, cathartic, bronchitis and anthelmintic
Root: Two ounces of root juice has a drastic purgative action. Roots are used for expelling worms. In China roots used for diabetes, skin swellings like boils and furuncles. Fresh root has anti-convulsant activity. Bulbous part of the root is used as a hydragogue and cathartic. Root is abortifacient, alexiteric, anthelmintic, anti-septic, astringent, diuretic and emetic. Leaves: Leaf juice is rubbed over the whole body in remittent fevers. Dried leaf has anti-spasmodic property. An infusion of tender shoots and dried capsules is aperient, and the expressed juice of the leaves is emetic. The leaves and stems are used for bilious disorders and skin diseases and as an emmenagogue. Leaf is alexiteric,
astringent, diuretic and emetic.
Fruits: The fruit is considered to be anthelmintic. The dried capsules are given in infusion or in decoction with sugar to assist digestion the fruit a very violent purgative and an efficient emetic. Seeds: The seed is said to be cooling. The dried seeds are used for its anthelmintic and anti-diarrhoeal properties. Seeds have anti-bacterial, anti-spasmodic, antiperiodic and insecticidal properties. It is used as abortifacient, acrid, aphrodisiac, astringent, bitter, febrifuge, purgative, toxic, trichogenous
Established scientific uses Anti-inflammatory Kolte RM, et al in 1997 with hot aqueous extract of root
tubers of Trichosanthes cucumerina have investigated against carrageenin induced mouse's hind paw oedema and it exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity Cytotoxic activity Kongtun S et al in 1999 with the root extract of Trichosanthes cucumerina L. and the fruit juice tested
cytotoxicity against four human breast cancer cell lines and lung cancer cell lines and one colon cancer cell line.
The root extract inhibited more strongly than the fruit juice
.Hypoglycaemic activity
Kar.A et al in 2003 with crude ethanolic extract of Tricosanthes cucumerina showed significant blood
glucose lowering activity in alloxan diabetic albino rats Larvicidal efficacy Rahuman.A.A et al in 2008 using the acetone extract of leaves of tricosanthes cucumerina showed moderate larvicidal effects
Anti-diabetic activity
M Arawwawala, et al in 2009 using hot water extract of aerial parts of Trichosanthes cucurmerina has noted to improve glucose tolerance and tissue glycogen in non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus induced rats. Study showed the drug possess antidiabetic activity with improvement in oral glucose tolerance and glucose uptake in peripheral tissues Hepatoprotective activity Sathesh Kumar.S, et al in 2009 found that the methanolic extract of the whole plant of tricosanthes cucumerina showed good hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride induced heapatotoxicity
Anti-fertility activity
Devendra N. Kage, et al in 2009 showed the antiovulatory activity of ethanol extract of whole plant of
Trichosanthes cucumerina L. var. cucumerina in female albino rats
Gastroprotective activity
Arawwawala LD et al in 2009 with hot water extract of Trichosanthes cucumerina, showed a significant protection against ethanol or indomethacin induced gastric damage increasing the protective mucus layer, decreasing the acidity of the gastric juice and antihistamine activity.
Dose dependent gastroprotective effects were observed in the alcohol model in terms of the length and number of gastric lesions mediated by alcohol in wistar stain rats.
No comments:
Post a Comment