title: Therapeutic potential of Benincasa cerifera: A review.
abstract: Benincasa cerifera (Savi.), belonging to Cucurbitaceae, is an annual creepy wine that posses highm edicinal value and istraditionally used as fruit and medicine throughout India. In Indian system of medicine, its fruit is used as nutritive, tonic, diuretic, aphrodisiac, styptic, vermifuge and in various diseases and disorders like asthma, bronchitis, insanity, epilepsy, dry cough, fever, urethrorrhea, syphilis, hyperdipsia and vitiated conditions of pitta, etc. Phytochemically the plant is found to contain lupeol, β-sitosterol, cucurbitacin B, iso-vitexin, etc. It has been demonstrated to posses numerous pharmacological activities such as antiepileptic, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, analgesic, immunopotentiator and anxiolytic, etc. In the present review there is a detailed description of its botany, phytochemistry, ethno-botany and pharmacological activities.
authors.affiliation: Medicine Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, 136119, Haryana, India. arora.pranjul@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Pranjul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.affiliation: Medicine Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, 136119, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Dhirender
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kaushik
keywords: Ayurveda; Benincasa cerifera; Cucurbitaceae; botany; ethno-botany; herbal plant; pharmacology; phytochemistry