Trichosanthes CUCUMERINA L.
| Synonym : | Anguina cucumerina (L.) Kuntze Cucumis anguinus (L.) L. Involucraria anguina (L.) M.Roem. Trichosanthes anguina L. |
|---|---|
| Bangla Name : | Chichinga, Rekha, Hopa, Koitha, Koida (Chittagong). |
| English Name : | Snake Gourd. |
| Family : | Cucurbitaceae. |
| Disease : | Boils,bilious disorders,skin diseases,fever, |
| Description : | A considerable climber, stems 3.6-4.5 m long, slender, furrowed, leafy. Tendril 2-3 fid. Leaves 5-12.5 cm long, orbicular-reniform or broadly ovate, more or less deeply 5-lobed. Male flowers in axillary racemes with 5-15 cm long peduncle, female flowers axillary, solitary, flowers white, 10 mm long. Fruit varies from 0.3-0.9 m in length and is often much contorted, young fruit is green striped with white. |
| Distribution : | Cultivated throughout the country. |
| Chemical Constituents : | Plant contains conjugated trienes. Flowers and seeds contain high amount of free amino acids like glutamic and aspartic acids, arginine, asperagine, lysine and alanine. Palmitic acid has been found to be the major volatile organic acid for the fruit peric |
| Uses : | The plant is a cardiac and general tonic, antipyretic and emmenagogue, useful in boils and intestinal worms. Decoction of leaves and stems is used in the treatment of bilious disorders and skin diseases, for fever, the decoction is given with ginger, chir |
| Habit : | Climber |