Nutritional and Medicinal Potential of Bottle Gourd (Lageneria siceraria): A Mini Review

Bottle gourd toxicity: the bitter truth of being green-thumbed

“…Harvested early it can be eaten, and as a more mature fruit can be used to make containers and utensils. 2 When the gourd is over ripe or stored improperly, they accumulate cucurbitacins, which are toxic at high concentrations. 1 There is a preponderance of case reports from India, 1,3,4,6 though a Canadian case has been reported relating to juice toxicity.…”

“…Toxicity mediated by the accumulation of cucurbitacins is most commonly associated with the ingestion of the juice as a tonic in India, where it is thought to provide health benefits in diabetes, hypertension, liver disease and depression. [1][2][3][4] More recently, there is significant interest in the use of cucurbitacins in the treatment of cancer. 5 We report a case of a patient admitted with bottle gourd toxicity following ingestion of the vegetable as a home-grown, home-cooked meal.…”

Bitter bottle gourd poisoning

“…It is used as home remedy for hypertriglyceridemia, diabetes mellitus, constipation, urinary tract infections, liver disease, cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular accidents. [ 1 ] Bitter bottle gourd juice contains increased levels of cucurbitacins. Few case of bottle gourd juice toxicity and its effects on gastrointestinal tract have been reported.…”