INTRODUCTION:

Traditional systems of medicine continue to be widely practiced on many accounts. Population rise, inadequate supply of drugs, prohibitive cost of treatments, side effects of several allopathic drugs and development of resistance to currently used drugs for infectious diseases have led to increased emphasis on the use of plant materials as a source of medicines for a wide variety of human ailments. There are at least 121 major plant drugs of known structure, but none of them is currently produced through synthetic means.

The Red Data Book of India has 427 entries of endangered species of which 28 are considered extinct, 124 endangered, 81 vulnerable, 100 rare and 34 insufficiently known species.¹Benincasa cerifera (Thunb) Cogn (fig.-1), Syn: Benincasa hispida (Thunb) Cogn, family: Cucurbitaceae is a widely used vegetable in India and other tropical countries.It is also called as winter melon, white gourd, ash gourd, or "fuzzy melon" and is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is the only member of the genus Benincasa and has been the subject of many investigations for its biologically active components.²

Fig. 1 Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn. (Fam. Cucurbitaceae)

Taxonomy:

Kingdom :	Planteae (Angiosperms)
:	Eudicots
:	Rosids
Order :	Cucurbitales
Family :	Cucurbitaceae
Subfamily :	Cucurbitoideae
Tribe :	Benincaseae
Subtribe :	Benincasinae
Genus :	Benincasa Savi
Species :	B. hispida ²

Phytochemistry:

Benincasa hispida seeds are mainly composed of saponin, urea³, citrulline, linoleic acid, oleic acid and fatty acids⁴. The seed also contains minute amounts of a triterpenoid known as isomultiflorenol, proteins such as trigonelline, coffearin, and osmotin⁵, steroids such as betasitosterol and stigmast-5-ene-3-beta-ol, alkaloids such as 5-methylcytosine, and triterpenoids such as cucurbitacin ⁶. The major constituents of this fruits are triterpenoids, flavanoids, glycosides, saccharides, caro-tenes, vitamins, β sitosterin, and uronic acid. Also shows the presence of triterpenes: alnusenol, multiflorenol, isomultiflorenol; flavone: iso-vitexin; and sterols: lupeol, lupeol acetate, and beta-sitosterol.^{7, 8, 9}

Traditional uses of Benincasa hispida (Thunb) Cogn:

Edible Uses:-

Edible Parts: Flowers; Fruit; Leaves; Seed.

The fruit can be eaten when it is young or old ¹⁰ and raw or cooked.^{11, 12} It is used as a vegetable, and in pickles, curries and preserves.^{13, 14, 15} It can be picked as early as one week after fertilization. A juicy texture with a mild flavor, the flavor is somewhat stronger in younger fruits. Because of its waxy coating, it will store for several months, sometimes as long as a year. Mature fruits can vary in weight from 2 - 50 kg.¹⁶ Young leaves and flower buds are steamed and eaten as a vegetable, or are added as a flavoring to soups.^17,18

Medicinal Uses:-

The wax gourd has been used as a food and medicine for thousands of years in the Orient. All parts of the fruit are used medicinally. An infusion of the root is used in the treatment of gonorrhea.¹⁹ Fruit is used in ayurvedic medicine in the treatment of epilepsy, lung diseases, asthma, coughs etc.. Recent research has shown that the fruit contain anti-cancer terpenes. ²⁰The rind of the fruit is diuretic. It is taken internally in the treatment of urinary dysfunction, summer fevers etc. The ashes of the rind are applied to painful wounds. The seed is anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, laxative and tonic. ^{19, 20} A decoction is used internally in the treatment of vaginal discharges and coughs.^{20, 21} In combination with Rheum palmatum it is used to treat intestinal abscesses. In Ayurvedic medicine the seed is used in the treatment of coughs, fevers, excessive thirst and to expel tapeworms. ²¹ The oil from the seed is also used as an anthelmintic. The fruit is also antiperiodic, aphrodisiac, diuretic, laxative and tonic and its juice is used in the treatment of insanity, epilepsy and other nervous diseases.²²

According to an old Korean medical encyclopedia, the “Donguibogam”, the Benincasa hispida is efficacious against diabetes, dropsy, diseases related to liver, leucorrhea, and good for the detoxication of minerals, the removal of fever, and to strengthen the function of bladder and small and large intestines.²³

Evaluated Pharmacological activities:

Antiulcer activity:-

This study was undertaken to determine the healing of ulcers induced by indomethacin due to antioxidant role of fruit extract of Benincasa hispida (Ash gourd) on ulcers in rats. On induction of gastric ulcer, there was significant increase in SOD in RBC and homogenate levels and vitamin C in plasma. There was an apparent decrease in ulcer index in animals treated with fruit extract. There was significant decrease in MDA with concomitant decrease in SOD and vitamin C levels in the treated rats when compared to those not treated with fruit extract. Benincasa hispida has been shown to contain certain active principles like terpenes, flavanoid C – glycosides and sterols which have antioxidant effects. These probably inhibit gastric mucosal injury by scavenging the free radicals and repress production of SOD and vitamin C.²⁴

Antidiarrheal activity:-

The observations from this study suggest that BHFE (Benincasa hispida fruit extract) in graded doses reduced diarrhea by inhibiting intestinal peristalsis, gastrointestinal motility and PGE₂-induced enteropooling. These inhibitory effects of BHFE support the use of the Benincasa hispida in folk medicine; justify its use as non-specific antidiarrheal agent. Hence, BHFE, on preliminary studies can be claimed as a potential antidiarrheal agent, the underlying mechanism appears to be spasmolytic and anti-enteropooling property by which the fruit and/or its extract produced relief in diarrhea.²⁵

Anticompulsive activity:-

The results of the present investigations revealed that MEBH (methanolic extract of Benincasa hispida) fruit exhibited anti-compulsive effect in mice by inhibiting marble-burying behavior and it was comparable to that of fluoxetine. The anti-compulsive effect of MEBH was further substantiated by the observation that the sub effective dose of MEBH potentiated the effect of sub-effective dose of fluoxetine and exhibited the significant inhibition of marble burying behavior. The preliminary phytochemical studies on MEBH also revealed the presence of tryptophan in the extract which is an important precursor of serotonin in the serotonergic neurons and may be enhancing the biosynthesis of serotonin to facilitate the anticompulsive effect of MEBH.²⁶

Antidepressant activity:-

The antidepressant activity of the methanol extract of Benincasa hispida fruit (MEBH) was evaluated using modified forced swim test. In forced swim test, MEBH (0.6 and 1 g/kg administered thrice and only once) showed significant reduction in immobility. In marble burying test, MEBH (0.2-1 g/kg) in a dose dependent manner significantly increased the number of visible marbles. MEBH (0.05-1 g/kg) significantly reduced the social interaction time. The results are agreeable with the clinically used antidepressants.²⁷

Anti-angiogenic activity:-

This study was carried out to evaluate anti-angiogenic effect of the seed extract of Benincasa hispida Cogniaux. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a potent angiogenic factor found in various tumors. In this study, results showed that the seed extract of Benincasa hispida Cogniaux decreased bFGF-induced endothelial cell proliferation and tube formation in a dose-dependent manner. Besides, Benincasa hispida seed extract showed no cytotoxicity on Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and normal fibroblast cells. Furthermore, the seed extract of Benincasa hispida showed a potent inhibitory effect on bFGF-induced angiogenesis in vivo. These results suggest that the seed extract of Benincasa hispida inhibits the proliferation of endothelial cells induced by bFGF, which may explain its anti-angiogenic properties.²⁸

Antioxidant role in Alzheimer’s disease:-

Antioxidant plays a crucial role in the management of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease. The effect of chronic oral treatment of aqueous pulp extract of Benincasa hispida(BH) (400mg/kg B.W) was studied in Holtzman strain adult albino rats of both sexes. The result revealed that chronic treatment with BH pulp extract markedly increased the number of correct choices in radial Y arm maze task, significantly decreased Lipid peroxidation level, significantly increased SOD, CAT and Reduced glutathione level in the different parts of the brain. This study demonstrated that the antioxidant property of BH extract may be beneficial for the management of colchicine induced rat model of Alzheimer’s disease.²⁹

Gastroprotective activity:-

This study reports the gastroprotective effect of petroleum ether and methanol extracts of Benincasa hispida. Both these extracts produced significant reduction in ulcer index (P < 0.05) in all the rat models and the results were comparable with that of omeprazole-treated group. Further, significant reduction in vascular permeability (P < 0.05) was observed. In CRS (cold restraint-stress) model, MDA content was significantly reduced along with increase in CAT levels as compared to control group. The mechanism of its gastroprotective activity may be attributed to reduction in vascular permeability, free radical generation, and lipid peroxidation along with strengthening of mucosal barrier. Besides, presence of phytoconstituents in this plant like flavones and sterols might be responsible for these actions.³⁰

Renoprotective activity:-

Renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) induced oxidative stress was associated with impaired kidney function, leading to a marked increase in serum creatinine, urea, and uric acid levels. Pretreatment with Benincasa hispida prevented renal I/R-induced lipid peroxidation and protected the kidneys from severe attenuation of antioxidant enzymes activity in rats exposed to the renal I/R. Furthermore, the impaired kidney function was significantly improved by Benincasa hispida. Renal I/R caused characteristic morphological changes, such as tubular cell swelling, interstitial edema, tubular dilatation, and moderate to severe necrosis. In contrast, sections of the kidneys of the rats treated with Benincasa hispida showed architectural and cytological preservation of structure. The results obtained from this study support a role for Benincasa hispida in attenuation of kidney damage after I/R injury of the kidneys in an animal model, in part at least by antioxidant or Free radical scavenging activity.³¹

Nootropic activity:-

The objective of this study was to investigate the cognitive function enhancing effect of methanol extract of fruit Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn in mice using Y maze and elevated plus maze. Spatial working memory in mice was evaluated usingY maze and Long term memory was evaluated by latency test using elevated plus maze. In Y maze test, MEBH (0.6-1 g/kg) produced significant reduction in number of entries and increase in percentage of alteration. In latency test, MEBH 0.6 and 0.8 g/kg significantly reduced the latency period. In both the models, MEBH was significantly able to antagonize the amnesic effect of scopolamine. In Conclusion the MEBH exhibited prominent nootropic effect and antiamnesic effect in both models of memory.³²

Role in Bronchospasm:-

Methanol extract of Benincasa hispida (MEBH) showed excellent protection in guinea pigs against the histamine-induced bronchospasm even at a very low dose, 50 mg/kg, p.o. The results suggest that the protective effect against bronchospsam induced by histamine aerosol may be mediated by antihistaminic activity (H1 receptor antagonism). Further studies may help to establish the antihistaminic activity in other tissues and also to identify the active principle responsible for the action.³³

Role in Hypochlorhydria:-

Hypochlorhydria is a risk factor of gastric carcinoma, Helicobacter pylori infection and anemia. In this study hypochlorhydria was (pH ≥ 4) induced by ranitidine, a histamine receptor antagonist, and the aim of this t study was to evaluate the protective effect of pre-administration followed by co-administration of aqueous extract of whole plant of Fumaria vaillantii L. (AEFV) or ripe fruit of Benincasa hispida T. (AEBH) in individual as well as by composite manner in ranitidine-induced hypochlorhydric rat. These herbal extracts recovered the gastric secretion and it gave satisfactory results in vitamin C concentration in gastric juice though the composite extract is more potent than individual in this aspect. This study highlighted the protective activity of these two plants from the hypochlorhydric state.³⁴

CONCLUSION:

Benincasa hispida (Ash gourd, Family: Cucurbitaceae) is a commonly used vegetable, which has found mention in ‘Charaka Samhita’ for its medicinal properties. It is employed as a main ingredient in kusmanda lehyam, in Ayurvedic system of medicine. The leyham is used as rejuvenate agent and also numerous nervous disorders. For thousands of years, the wax gourd (Benincasa hispida) has been used as a traditional medicine in the Orient. Many empirical applications have been used in Indian centuries for various ailments such as GIT problems like dyspepsia, burning sensation, heart disease, vermifuge, diabetes, and urinary disease. A multitude of studies in animals have shown that the Pharmacological activities possessed by this herb are due to the major constituents of this fruits such as triterpenoids, flavanoids, glycosides, saccharides, carotenes, vitamins, β sitosterin, and uronic acid.

A large number of medicinal plants and their purified constituents have shown beneficial therapeutic potentials. In some cases, the crude extract of medicinal plants may be used as medicaments. On the other hand, the isolation and identification of the active principles and elucidation of the mechanism of action of a drug is of paramount importance. Hence, works in both mixture of traditional medicine and single active compounds are very important. Where the active molecule cannot be synthesized economically, the product must be obtained from the cultivation of plant material. About 121 (45 tropical and 76 subtropical) major plant drugs have been identified for which no synthetic one is currently available. Thus, the scientific study of traditional medicines such as Benincasa hispida, derivation of drugs through bioprospecting and systematic conservation of the concerned medicinal plants are of great importance.

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Received on 16.09.2011 Modified on 26.09.2011

Research J. Pharm. and Tech. 4(12): Dec. 2011; Page 1941-1944