Momordica foetida

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Momordica foetida
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Momordica
Species:
M. foetida
Binomial name
Momordica foetida

Momordica foetida is a

bitter melon (M. charantia) and balsam apple (M. balsamina). Its species name ("bad-smelling") refers to its unpleasant smell. It was previously named M. morkorra (A. Rich)[1] and M. cordata (Cogn.)[2]

The plant grows in forest edges and similar habitats (including disturbed and cultivated land), woodland, and wooded grassland. Its leaves are wrinkled, heart-shaped with irregular edges, up to 18 cm wide. The flowers are yellow to yellow-orange. The fruit is a prolate spheroid, 3.5–7.5 cm long and 2.5–5 cm wide, bright orange and covered with soft spines. When fully ripe it splits from the bottom into three valves, exposing a cluster of black seeds, individually covered by a bright red, sticky, sweet pulp. The plant has perennial tuberous roots.

Local names for the plant include concombre sauvage (French for "wild cucumber"), nyanya-nua, sσprσpσ, kakle, awoduan ("snake food"), aoasongo, gaayama, nanïa, n-gessannia, boobo, bobonowron, vovolé, vovoné vono, hepa, ìsúgū, alu-osi, akb’an’udene, ejìnrìn, tsekiri, and a-bos-a-wir.[2]

Uses

Food

Remains of a ripe fruit, where the pericarp splits into three valves

The leaves have a bitter taste, but are eaten in

Tanganyika. The root is considered edible in Sudan.[2]

Folk medicine]

Like its relative M. charantia, the plant contains a number of bioactive compounds, including

sitosteryl glucoside, 5,25-stigmastadien-3β-yl glucoside, and 1β-hydroxyfriedel-6-en-3-one, and several cucurbitane-type triterpenoid derivatives.[3]

Digestive disorders

In Tanganika, young leaves are taken for

roundworm.[2]

Pain relief

The leaf sap is used to treat severe

earache
. In Malawi, headache is treated by binding the head with the plant stem.

Reproduction

In the Ivory Coast a preparation of the leaves is used as an aphrodisiac and is taken by women as an emmenagogue and as childbirth helper. In Uganda, tea from leaves or roots is used as an abortifacient and an ecbolic.[2]

Skin conditions

In the Ivory Coast, a leaf-decoction is used to treat smallpox. The root is used in Tanganyika to wash small children and mothers' breasts. In South Africa, a root decoction with other plants is taken for boils.[2]

Snake bites

The inflammation caused by the venom of the spitting cobra, (Naja nigrocollis) can be prevented by promptly rubbing the skin with crushed leaves and chewing them. The leaf sap is drunk to treat snakebite.[2]

Other conditions

The leaf sap is used to stop

dropsy and malaria.[2]

Other uses

Longitudinal section through unripe fruit

In Malawi, the fruit is used as bait to trap birds. In Gabon, leaves are soaked, dried in the sun, and used to stuff cushions. In Tanganyika, the fruit pulp is believed to be poisonous to

cocoa tree.[2]

The closest relatives of Momordica foetida can be seen in a molecular phylogeny that includes all species of Momordica.[4]

References

  1. ^ Jeffrey, C. (1978). "Cucurbitaceae". Flora Zambesiaca. Vol. 4.
  2. ^
    ISBN 094764301X
    .
  3. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(96)00814-X
    .
  4. PMID 19686858
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Momordica_foetida&oldid=1015603802"