कठिल्लं - Momordica charantia

 

Name - कारवॆल्लं

Botanical name - Momordica charantia

Description - Hairy climbers. Leaves sub-orbicular, 5 to 7-lobed. Flowers yellow, solitary. Fruit pendulous, fusiform, beaked.

Chemical Constituents- Leaves and stem contain mordicines I, II, and III, cucurbitane triterpenoids. Fruits contain acylglucosyl sterols, lipids, charantin, beta-sitosterol, glucoside, ascorbigen, free amino acids. Seeds contain alkaloid, glycoside, a semi- drying oil. Fruit and leaves contain two alkaloids, one momordicine, bitter principles cucurbitacins. Plant contains glucoside, a saponin-like substance, a resin, an aromatic oil and a mucilage

Use - Fruit tonic, stomachic, carminative and cooling; used in rheumatism, gout and diseases of liver and spleen, also in diabetes. Juice of leaves given in bilious affections. Root used in haemorrhoids Leaves are emetic, purgative, antibiotic And anthelmintic, useful in jaundice, leprosy, bilious affections, burning soles and ascariasis It is used in diabetes and shown to be hypoglycemic in rabbits.

Medicinal plants of India ; Ayurveda

Encyclopedia of Indian Medicinal Plants/Herbs mainly using in Ayurveda with good quality pictures and information like therapeutic usage of Medicinal Plants, cultivation, morphology, habitat, flower characters, Chemical content, parts used, research works etc.

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