WHITE GOURD (Kumbalam)
| Name in Malayalam | : | കുമ്പളം |
| Name in Hindi | : | पेठा |
| Botanical Name | : | Benincasa hispida |
| Medicinal part | : | Leaf, Root ,stem, Fruit |
| Medicinal properties | : | Seed is anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, laxative and tonic |
Description
White gourd also called ash gourd, , winter gourd, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, winter melon, Chinese preserving melon and (Alu) Puhul, is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is the only member of the genus Benincasa. The fruit is covered in a fuzzy coating of fine hairs when young. The immature melon has thick white flesh that tastes sweet. By maturity, the fruit loses its hairs and develops a waxy coating, giving rise to the name wax gourd. The wax coating helps to give the fruit a long shelf life. The melon may grow as large as 80 cm in length. It has yellow flowers and broad leaves.Characteristics:
White gourd is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable. The fruit is fuzzy when young. By maturity, the fruit loses its hairs and develops a waxy coating, giving rise to the name wax gourd, and providing a long shelf life. Stem is much branched. Leaf stalks are long and hairy. Leaves roundish, kidney-shaped, base deeply heart-shaped. Upper surface is rough, lower surface shortly bristly, blade 10-25 cm long and as much broad, 5-7-lobed, lobes ovate-triangular, margin sinuate or toothed. Tendrils are slender, rarely simple. Male flower 5-15 cm long, female 2-4 cm long. Calyx tube 10-15 mm long, densely hairy, lobes lanceolate, acute, 6-12 mm long. Petals spreading, blunt, but ending in a short point, 3-5 x 2-4 cm. Filaments of the stamens are inflated and hairy at the base, anthers trilobed. In north India, the fruit is used in making the popular sweet पेठा petha.Medicinal Uses:
White gourd has been used as a food and medicine for thousands of years in the Orient. All parts of the fruit are used medicinally. The rind of the fruit is diuretic. It is taken internally in the treatment of urinary dysfunction, summer fevers etc. The ashes of the rind are applied to painful wounds. The seed is anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, laxative and tonic. A decoction is used internally in the treatment of vaginal discharges and coughs. The fruit is antiperiodic, aphrodisiac, diuretic, laxative and tonic.
