| Plant Category | : | Climbers |
| Melghat's Flora's Serial No. | : | 19 |
| Synonym | : | - |
| Plant Common Name | : | bara-karela, barh karelo, jangli-karela, kankero, mokha, karla, balsam apple, |
| Plant Family | : | Cucurbitaceae |
| Description | : | Annual climber with unbranched glabrous tendrils, monoecious. Stem pubescent to glabrescent. Leaves orbicular, 1.5-5.0 (-12.0) cm long and as broad, cordate, glabrous or sparsely hairy, 3-5-lobed, middle lobes broadly ovate or rhombic-ovate, sinuate-dentate or acutely lobulate. Petiole 1-3(-4) cm long, pubescent. Flowers yellow, 2.5-3.0 cm across, pedicellate. Male flowers solitary, on 1.5(-7) cm long peduncle, bearing near the apex a sessile, broadly ovate-cordate, subglabrous, dentate bract; female flowers on 5-15 mm long basally bracteate or ebracteate peduncles. Calyx tube 5-6 mm long, pubescent, lobes ovate, acuminate, 3-3.5 mm broad. Corolla slightly zygomorphic, brown at base, lobes yellow, obovate, 10-15 mm long, 8-10(-12) mm broad. Ovary fusiform, beaked, puberulous, longitudinally tuberculate. Fruit broadly ovoid, narrowed at ends, 2-7 cm long, 1-2.5 cm broad, orange-red, tuberculate. Seeds elliptic-ovate, 1-1.2 cm long, 6-7 mm broad. |
| Plant Location in Melghat | : | In the interior road from Chikhaldara to Kolkaz some plant were found growing at vairat |
| Medicinal Use / Activity | : | The fruits, seeds and leaves are anthelmintic. The leaves are used as a treatment against fever and excessive uterine bleeding, and to treat syphilis, rheumatism, hepatitis and skin disorders. The plant is emetic, purgative and vermifuge. anti-HIV, anti-plasmodial, shigellocidal, anti-Diarrheal, anti-septic, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, hypoglycemic, anti-oxidant, analgesic and Hepatoprotective properties. |
| Plant's Phytochemicals | : | COMPOUNDS: Linoleic acid; momordin; momordin II; oleic acid; stearic acid; Beta-sitosterol; ACTIVE COMPOUNDS (1): Beta-sitosterol; |
| Plant's Current Status | : | Rare |
| Plant's Cross Database Reference | : | 259142 |
| Reference | : | Bhogaonkar PY and Devarkar VD (1998) Addiions to the Flora of Melghat (some rare and uncommon plants). Technical Bulletin No. VII. The Directorate Project Tiger, Melghat.
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| Reference | : | ~ Bhogaonkar PY and Devarkar VD; "Additions to the Flora of Melghat (some rare and uncommon plants)"; The Directorate Project Tiger, Melghat (1998); Technical Bulletin No. VII PMID : |
| Kingdom | : Plantae - Plants |
|---|---|
| Phylum | : Tracheophyta |
| Subkingdom | : Tracheobionta - Vascular plants |
| Superdivision | : Spermatophyta - Seed plants |
| Division | : Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants |
| Class | : Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons |
| Subclass | : Dilleniidae |
| Order | : Violales |
| Family | : Cucurbitaceae - Cucumber family |
| Genus | : Momordica L. - momordica |
| Species | : Momordica balsamina L. - southern balsampear |
