Disclaimer : This databank is curated from literature and may not claim for any medications or directly use of plants without any prior knowledge or consultation of physician.



Botanical Name Plant's Common Name Plant Family

MC036 : Momordica balsamina sensu W. & A.

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Melghat's Flora's Serial No. : 19  
Class : Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Order : Violales
Family : Cucurbitaceae - Cucumber family
Genus : Momordica L. - momordica
Species : Momordica balsamina L. - southern balsampear
Plant Location in Melghat : In the interior road from Chikhaldara to Kolkaz some plant were found growing at vairat  
Plant Category : Climbers  
Plant's Current Status : Rare  
Plant Family : Cucurbitaceae  

 
Plant Common Name : bara-karela, barh karelo, jangli-karela, kankero, mokha, karla, balsam apple,
 
Synonym : -

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.
 
Curated 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 : Linoleic acid
momordin
momordin II
oleic acid
stearic acid
Beta-sitosterol

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 :