The present study investigates the effect of oral administration of the ethanolic extracts of Luffa aegyptiaca (seeds) and Carissa edulis (leaves) on blood glucose levels both in normal and streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats. Treatment with both extracts significantly reduced the blood glucose level in STZ diabetic rats during the first three hours of treatment. L. aegyptiaca extract decreased ...

Luffa aegyptiaca (Luffa sponge gourd) is increasingly seen as both a source of vegetative nutrition and as a source of the “luffa” used as to exfoliate during bathing. As such, the commercial growing of Luffa aegyptiaca is increasingly being investigated using more intensive farming methods. Two factors traditionally used to promote / speed germination and emergence of vegetable seeds is invest...

BLACK Luffa sponge, derived from dried fruits of Luffa aegyptiaca Mill. (Sponge gourd, Hindi – Ghiya tori), could be a suitable matrix for tissue culture in aseptic liquid culture media. To test this, the response of aroid Philodendron ‘Xanadu’ Hort., an exquisite indoor-ornamental with its beautiful leaves and tangled aerial roots, was studied in vitro by Gangopadhyay and others. A study on in...

High fidelity calcium carbonate and hydroxyapatite (bio) inorganic replicas of the fibrous network of the dried fruit of Luffa cylindrica are described, utilizing a facile synthetic route. The loofa sponge is a highly complex macroscopic architectural template, an inexpensive and sustainable resource. In the context of the morphosynthesis, the capability of replication of the loofa sponge opens...

LUFFACHITIN obtained from the residue of the sponge-like dried fruit of Luffa aegyptiaca was developed as a weavable skin substitute in this study. A chemical analysis revealed that LUFFACHITIN was composed of a copolymer containing N-acetyl-glucosamine (~40%) as a major monomer with a filamentary structure as demonstrated by both optical and scanning electron microscopy. The pulp-like white re...

Curdlan production by Agrobacterium sp. IFO13140 immobilized on loofa sponge, alginate and loofa sponge with alginate was investigated. There was no statistically-significant difference in curdlan production when the microorganism was immobilized in different matrices. The loofa sponge was chosen because of its practical application and economy and because it provides a high stability through i...

Spondias mombin (Linn), Nymphaea lotus (Linn) and Luffa cylindrica (Linn) (syn Luffa aegyptiaca Mill) are plants traditionally used as food ingredients and in the management of diseases, including cancer, in Nigeria. Despite the therapeutic potentials attributed to these plants, reports on their genotoxicity are scanty. In this study, the genotoxicity of the aqueous and hydro-methanol extract o...

The vegetable sponge of Luffa cylindrica was studied as a matrix for the immobilization of Aspergillus niger 26, producer of polymethylgalacturonase (PMG). Entrapped spores could grow and multiply within the lattice of the sponge. The influence of loofa sponge inoculum content, initial spore inoculum content, and duration of the growth cycle on the enzyme activity and mycelium growth was studie...

This study was carried out to relate the diversity of one crop in terms of number of landraces and farm area with the diversity of other crop. Information collected during baseline survey of in-situ global project (1999) on three crops namely rice, finger millet and sponge gourd in Jumla, Kaski and Bara of Nepal were used. Farm area of each variety and number of landraces grown by sampled house...