Mukia maderaspatana (L.) M.Roem.
Vernacular name: Madras Pea Pumpkin, Madras Creeper (Hindi: जंगल खीरा, मद्रासी ककड़ी)
Species Name: Mukia maderaspatana (L.) M.Roem.
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Habit: Annual or perennial slender climbing herb.
Stem: Slender, angular, pubescent, branched, climbing with simple tendrils.
Leaf: Alternate, broadly ovate to orbicular, 3–8 × 3–8 cm, shallowly 3–5 lobed, cordate at base, pubescent, long-petiolate.
Flowering: Rainy season–winter.
Flowers: Small, yellow, unisexual, axillary; male flowers in short racemes, female flowers solitary; corolla 5-lobed; stamens 3; ovary inferior, tricarpellary.
Fruit: Globose berry, 1–2 cm diameter, green with pale stripes when young, turning bright red at maturity; seeds numerous, compressed.
Uses:
- Folk remedies used plant to ease upper respiratory tract issues, asthma, nasal congestion, cough and bronchitis.
- Fruit has stomachic and anti-flatulent properties and to manage stomach ailments powdered from is taken with honey.
- Plant helps to regulate blood glucose level owing to its antidiabetic and hypoglycemic properties.
- Tender leaves and shoots acts as mild laxative and diuretic and helps to manage digestive issues.
- Tropical application of poultice of fresh leaves soothe inflammations, relieve joint pain, fever and heal minor skin infections or rashes.
- Plant also has hepatoprotective functions and can help to ease toothaches.
- Tender leaves and shoots are eaten as a leafy vegetable, while ripe fruits are edible as raw. It is also used as fodder and as a medicinal climber in rural communities.
