Momordica dioica

Momordica dioica

Momordica dioica, commonly known as spiny gourd or spine gourd and also known as bristly balsam pear, prickly carolaho, teasle gourd, kantola, is a species of flowering plant in the "কাকরোল" In Bengali gourd family. It is used as a vegetable in all regions of India and some parts in South Asia. It has commercial importance and is exported and used locally. The fruits are cooked with spices,or fried and sometimes eaten with meat or fish

Uses

diabetes mellitus, anti-diabetic.

Parts Used

Fruits, Leaves, Roots.

Chemical Composition

Momordica dioica as the average nutritional value per 100 g edible fruit was found to contain 84.1% moisture, 7.7 g carbohydrate, 3.1 g protein, 3.1 g fat, 3.0 g fiber and 1.1 g minerals.

Common names

Language	Common name
Kannada	mada haagala kaayi (ಮಡ ಹಾಗಲಕಾಯಿ or ಸಿಹಿ ಹಾಗಲಕಾಯಿ)
Hindi	Kikoda(किकोड़ा)
Malayalam
Tamil	மெழுகுபாகல் mezhuku-pakal, பழுபாகல் pazhu-pakal
Telugu	boda kakara
Marathi	NA
Gujarathi	NA
Punjabi	NA
Kashmiri	NA
Sanskrit	karkotaki(कर्कोटकी), karkoti(कर्कोटी).
English

Properties

Reference: Dravya - Substance, Rasa - Taste, Guna - Qualities, Veerya - Potency, Vipaka - Post-digesion effect, Karma - Pharmacological activity, Prabhava - Therepeutics.

Habit

Herbs

Identification

Leaf

Kind	Shape	Feature
Simple	round	1.5-5.0 cm long, heart-shaped at base, hairless or sparsely hairy, middle lobes broadly ovate or rhombic-ovate

Flower

Type	Size	Color and composition	Stamen	More information
Bisexual	broadly ovate-heart-shaped	yelowish		2.5-3.0 cm across, stalked. Male flowers are solitary, on 1.5 cm long flower-cluster-stalk, bearing near the tip a stalkless

Fruit

Type	Size	Mass	Appearance	Seeds	More information
Simple Fruit	ovoid	2-7 cm long, 1-2.5 cm broad	orange-red		{{{6}}}

Mode of Propagation

Seeds.

How to plant/cultivate

Requires a soil rich in organic matter if optimum yields are to be achieved. A dioecious plant, male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Commonly seen growing in areas

Garden area.

Photo Gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 

External Links

• Momordica dioica