Pharmacological potential of Trichosanthes dioica – an edible plant

Trichosanthes dioica Roxb. (family: Cucurbitaceae), commonly known as “Sespadula” in English and “Parwal” in Hindi, is widely grown throughout India. Fruits of this plant are used as vegetable in Indian traditional food system from time immemorial. Besides fruits, other parts of the plant, such as the leaves and tender shoots, have also been used in the traditional system of medicine since ancient times. Pointed gourd has been used for overcoming problems like constipation, fever, skin infection, wounds and also improves appetite and digestion. The immature fruits are used as vegetable and as ingredients of soup, stew, curry, sweet, or eaten fried and as dorma with roe stuffing. The present review describes the morphological and pharmacological aspects of Trichosanthes dioica and summarizes the most interesting findings obtained in the preclinical and clinical research related to the plant.