Botanical Name Plant's Common Name Plant Family   

   MC038 : Trichosanthes cucumerina L.

Plant Category : Climbers

Melghat's Flora's Serial No. : -

Synonym : -

Plant Common Name : Snake Gourd • Hindi: Chachinda, Chichonda • Kannada: adla balli, adla kaayi, bettada padavala • Malayalam: padavalanga, kaippam-patolam • Marathi: jangli padavala • Sanskrit: Amritaphala, bijagarbha • Tamil: pudalankaai, alakaipputal • Telugu: potlakaaya, adavi potla

Plant Family : Cucurbitaceae

Description : Large Climber. Leaves 5-7 lobed. Flowers white. Berries ovoid, scarlet to orange. Snake Gourd is a tropical or subtropical vine, raised for its strikingly long fruit, used as a vegetable and for medicine. The narrow, soft-skinned fruit can reach 150 cm long. Its soft, bland, somewhat mucilaginous flesh is similar to that of the luffa and the calabash. Leaf blade kidney-shaped or broadly ovate, 7-10 × 8-11 cm, membranous, deeply 5-7-lobed, lobes triangular or rhombic. The white flower is beautiful and lacy, and open at night. It is most popular in the cuisine of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The shoots, tendrils, and leaves are also eaten as greens. It is a popular vegetable in South India.

Plant Location in Melghat : Chaurakund

Medicinal Use / Activity : According to Ayurveda, the plant pacifies vitiated pitta, constipation, skin diseases, burning sensation, diabetes, anorexia, flatulence, constipation, worm infestation, fever and general weakness.

Plant's Phytochemicals : COMPOUNDS: delphinidin chloride; epicatechin gallate; epicatechin; Kaempferol; epigallocatechin;

ACTIVE COMPOUNDS (5):

Kaempferol;

Delphinidin;

Catechin;

Epicatechin;

(+)-Gallocatechin;

Plant's Current Status : -

Plant's Cross Database Reference : 259142

Reference : Londhe, A.N., Watve, A.V. & Ansari, M.Y. 2002. “Additions to the flora of Melghat Tiger Reserve”. J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 26: 385 to 395 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3990345/

Reference : ~ Londhe AN, Watve AV and Ansari MY; "Additions to the flora of Melghat Tiger Reserve"; J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. (2002); 26(2): 385-395 PMID :

~ Nduche, M.U. and Okwulehie, I.C.; "ETHNOMEDICINAL SURVEY OF PLANTS USED IN TREATING SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA"; Review of Plant Studies (2014); 1(2): 1-9 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 : Trichosanthes L. - trichosanthes
Species : Trichosanthes cucumerina L. - snakegourd

Trichosanthes cucumerina L. - snakegourd
Trichosanthes cucumerina L. - snakegourd