MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF IVY GOURD (CEPHALANDRA

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ISSN 0974 – 9446
MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF IVY GOURD (CEPHALANDRA INDICA) : A REVIEW
Goldy Yadav*, Amit Mishra,
Archana Tiwari
1
Goldy Yadav
School of Biotechnology, Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki
Vishvidyalya,Airport Bypass Road,
Bhopal(461033) Madhya Pradesh,India
Email:[email protected]
ABSTRACT
Ivy Gourd (Coccinia indica) is extensively used as vegetable and grown wildly throughout Indian subcontinent. It is commonly known as ‘Kundru’ in India. Ivy plant has been used in traditional medicine as
a household remedy for various diseases, including biliary disorders, anorexia, cough, diabetic wounds,
hepatic disorders. For the last few decades, some extensive work has been done to establish the
biological activities and pharmacological actions of Ivy Gourd and its extracts. Polyprenol (C60polyprenol (1) ) is the main yellow bioactive component of Ivy Gourd has been shown to have a
antidyslipidemic of biological actions . Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimutagenic, antidiabetic,
antibacterial, antiprotozoal, antiulcer, hepatoprotective, expactorants, analgesis, antiinflamatory are the
reported pharmacological activities of Ivy Gourd. This review gives a bird’s eye view mainly on the
biological activities of some of the compounds isolated, pharmacological actions of the Ivy Gourd
extracts, clinical studies and plausible medicinal applications of Ivy Gourd along with their safety
evaluation.
Key Words: Kundru,Mother tincture,Phytochemistry,glucose-6-phosphatase.
INTRODUCTION
Plants have always been an exemplary source
of drugs and many drugs currently available
have been derived directly or indirectly from
them. A vast majority of population particularly
those living in villages depend largely on
medicinal plants for treating and curing
diseases. One such medicinal plant is, Ivy
Gourd (Syn. Coccinia indica, Cephalandra
indica Wight & Arnott.) is indigenous plant of
Central Africa, India and Asia. It is cultivated
abundantly in india (Assam. Bihar, Orissa
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu) as
a vegetable and its wild form is also found in
many parts of India. This plant has been wildly
used in traditional Indian medicinal system
(Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha). Cephalandra indica
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is an climbing shrub with white flower. Every
part of the plant exhibit pharmacological
activities, and is annual employed for treating
various human ailments.
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•
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Its taxonomic position, botanical synonyms
and various vernacular names as follows:
•
Order: Cucurbitaceae
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Class: Mangoliopsida
Genus: Cephalandra
Specific Epithet: indica noudin
Botanical name: Cephalandra indica noudin.(1)
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•
•
•
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Botanical Synonyms’
Coccinia indica, Coccinia cordifolia, Coccinia
grandis.
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Skin diseases (ring worm, psoriasis itch,
sores, pityriasis), skin eruptions of small
pox, small lesions of scabies.
Chronic sinuses.
Causes cooling effect to eyes.
Gastro-intestinal
disturbance
and
diseases.
Alleviate body heat by inducing
perspiration in fever.
Tincture is used internally in gonorrhea.
Cure
diabetes
and
intermittent
glycosuria.
Expectorant.
Gastro-intestinal
disturbance
and
diseases.
Urinary tract infection and Respiratory
tract related trouble.
2 Stem
Vernacular Names
English: Scarlet-fruited gourd, tindora, kovai fruit
Chinese: hong gua
Danish: skariagenagurk
Hindi: parval, tindora (tindori or tindola), tinda,
tendus, kundru, kunduzi
Japanese: yasai karasuuri
Malay: pepasan, papasan, kovai, kovakka
Spanish: pepino cimarrón
Ayurveda: Bimbi,
Kunduru, Raktaphala,
Piluparni (2)
Medicinal use of various parts of Ivy Gourd
Various parts of the Ivy Gourd plant have been
used as traditional medicine in India from time
immemorial. The medicinal utilities have been
described, especially for leaf, fruit, root and
stem. Several medicinal applications of various
parts of Ivy Gourd are summarized in
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Antispasmodic effect.
Expectorant.
Useful in Asthma and bronchitis.
Cure
diabetes
and
intermittent
glycosuria.
Gastro-intestinal
disturbance
and
diseases.
Skin diseases.
Urinary tract infection and related
troubles.
3 Fruit
•
•
•
Cures sores on tongue.
Raw fruit used as vegetable.
Cure eczema.
4 Root
Medicinal uses of different parts of Ivy Gourd.
Part used Medicinal value
•
•
•
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1 Leaves
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Remove pain in joints.
Apthous ulcers.
Wheezing and phlegm.
Cure
diabetes
and
intermittent
glycosuria.
Skin diseases, skin lesions (Tenia).
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Treats urinary tract infection and related
troubles.
Anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic
activities:
Chemical Profile of Ivy Gourd (Coccinia
indica)
The aqueous extract of fresh leaves is effective
against carrageenin-indused paw odema in
Wistar rates and Swiss mice. The effect was
equivalent to diclofenac 20mg/kg at 50mg/kg
but it was significantly pronounced at higher
doses. Antipyretic reduction in hyperpyrexia
was observed with all doses of extract with
maximum effect at 300mg/kg, comparable to
paracetomol. The extract produced marked
analgesic activity comparable to morphine
which suggests the involvement of central
nervous system. Fractionation of bioactive
crude ethanolic extract led to isolation of three
pure
fractions
from
which
one
was
characterized
as
4-hydroxy-3-methoxy
benzaldehyde (Fig. 1) by IR, 1H-NMR, 13CNMR, DEPT, HSQC and Mass spectral
analysis. The isolated constituent was found to
be significantly active in above mentioned
animal models suggesting it to be one of the
bioactive constituent (8).
Chemical
investigation
of
Cephalandra
(Coccinia indica) done by some researchers are
as follow. The phytochemical screening of the
50% methanolic extract obtained from whole
parts of Cephalandra (Coccinia indica) done by
Chandria et.al2010(3), reveals that it contains
carbohydrates, glycosides, fix oils and fats,
proteins and amino acids ,saponins ,tannins,
phytosterol , alkaloids , phenolic compounds
,flavonoids, gum and mucilage. Methanolic
extract obtained from fruits of Ivy Gourd
(Coccinia indica) contains steroids, saponins,
ellagic acid , lignin’s, triterpenoids, in addition to
alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, glycosides,
phenols (4).The aqueous extract of fresh leaves
of Ivy Gourd (Coccinia indica) exhibited
anthraquinons in addition to alkaloids,
carbohydrate, proteins and amino acids,
tannins, saponins, flavonoids, phytosterol,
Triterpenes(5). Presence of cephalandrol,
tritriacontane, lupeol, b-sitosterol, cephalandrine
A,
cephalandrine
B,
stigma-7-en-3-one,
taraxerone and taraxerol, have been reported
by Rastogi et.al 1998(6),and “Ray and kundu”
1987(6).
Presence
of
Polysaccharides,
Xyloglucan, Carotenoids and Cryptoxanthin has
been reported by Purohit et. al 1999(7).
(fig.1) 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy benzaldehyde
Gourd
Antiulcer and Antioxidant effect of Ivy
Gourd:
Biological activity of Ivy Gourd is reported with
the crude extracts and their different fractions
from leaf, fruit, stem, roots. However, crude
extract of different parts of Ivy Gourd have been
used as traditional medicine for the treatment of
various diseases.
The effect of Ivy Gourd leaves powder extracted
with water and methanol were tested on aspirininduced gastric model (Wistar rates) in rats. The
leaf powder of Ivy Gourd showed a extensive
dose related decrease in ulcer index, with
significant increase in mucous discharge and
decrease in level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and
superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Methanol
Pharmacological
extract:
actions
of
Ivy
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extract at a comparable dose to that of the
powder also showed a significant decline in
ulcer index with important changes in mucous
secretion, LPO and SOD. The non-significant
effect of aqueous extract was found to be in
reducing ulcer index (9).
Anti-microbial activity of Ivy Gourd:
Anti-microbial activity of eight different solvent
extracts (Petroleum ether, diethyl ether,
chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol,
ethanol and aqueous extracts) of Ivy Gourd fruit
were tested against six gram negative and gram
positive bacteria. Petroleum ether extract was
the most active and showed considerable
antibacterial activity against all tested gram
positive and gram negative bacteria producing a
maximum inhibition zone of 19 mm against
Stephylococcus. aureus. Other tested extracts
also inhibited the growth of a number of test
organisms but to a lesser extent and were
mainly active against the gram-positive
S.aureus. This study also revealed that
methanol extract was found to be active against
Bacillus cereus and Psedomonas putida
producing inhibition zone 15 and 13 mm,
respectively. The aqueous extracts of Ivy Gourd
did not show much significant activity. Least
activity was shown by chloroform extract
against all the tested bacteria with inhibition
zone ranging from 1 - 7 mm(10). Fharookh et al
(2008) used leaves and stem extract of Ivy
Gourd. Water extract of leaves and ethanolic
extract of stem showed significant effect against
Shigella boydii and Psedomonas aeruginosa
respectively (11).
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identifying there Larvicidal activity in which
crude methanolic extract of Ivy Gourd showed
the highest mortality(12).
Mutagenic Effect of Ivy Gourd
Ivy gourd leaf extract showed significant
mutagenic effect on Neurospora crassa
fungus.To determine the efficacy of Ivy gourd
on the radial growth of N. crassa, different
doses of leaf extracts (sterilized and nonsterilized) were used. Aqueous extracts of the
leaves of Ivy gourd showed noteworthy
inhibition of growth and mutagenesis on N.
crassa. Result showed that 1 ml extract reacted
with the test organism of N. crassa effectively.
Doses ranges between 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0
and 4.0 ml extract showed gradual decrease of
growth of mycelia and these result indicates that
this plant was appropriate for induction of
mutation in N. crassa. 6 types of mutants were
found namely- dirty, ropy, albino, mat,
cauliflower, conidial brand. Albino (13).
Anti-Stress and Free Radical Scavenging
Activity
The 50% methanolic extract of whole plant of
Ivy Gourd –Coccinia indica ,showed the strong
free radical scavenging activity almost same as
that of Ginseng. The LD50 of 50 % ethanolic
extract of Coccinia indica is 3163.28 mg/kg of
body weight, on oral administration. The present
study provides scientific support for the antistress and free radical scavenging activity of
Coccinia indica extract and substantiates the
traditional claims for the usage of Coccinia
indica in stress induced disorders (14).
Larvicidal efficacy of Ivy Gourd
Leaves extract of Ivy Gourd is effective malarial
against parasites. Mosquitoes are the major
vector for the transmission of malaria, dengue
fever, yellow fever, filarisis etc. Rahuman et.al.
worked on the cucurbitaceous plant for
Effect of the Fraction of Ivy Gourd on
Ethanolic – Induced Cerebral Oxidative
Stress in Rates
For the investigation of cerebral oxidative stress
various fraction of Ivy Gourd was used. The
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various fraction of hydro-methanolic extract of
Ivy Gourd leaves (pet-ether, chloroform, ethylacetate, and residual fraction) was used in
which the chloroform fraction showed the
appreciable anti-oxidant effect. The entire
fraction derived from leaves of Ivy Gourd
(except from residual fraction) prevented the
peroxidative damage (15).
Activity of Ivy-Gourd on GLUT 1 Promoter
Ivy Gourd is majorly used as anti-diabetic in all
over the world. It shows the both hypoglycemic
and hyperglycemic activity in in-vitro and invivo. GLUT 1 is a ubiquitous glucose transporter
that mediates the basal glucose transporter into
the cell. For checking its activity against GLUT 1
promoter researchers used the L6 myocytes cell
line. In this study, GLUT 1 promoter activity was
significantly increased in response to Ivy Gourd
extract in L6 myocytes cell line. Ivy Gourd
extract acts directly through the stimulation of
the GLUT 1 Promoter at the transcription
initiation site (GC and TATA box) (16).
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Coccinia indica significantly depressed the
glucose-6-phosphates and fructose -1,6-bisphosphatese activities in both normal and
(19)
streptozotocin-diabetic
rates
.
Hydromethanolic mixture of root of M.
paradisiaca and leaf of C. indica in composite
manner in STZ treated diabetic rats not only
resets the blood glucose homeostasis to the
control level but also corrects the protein
metabolic disorders (20).
Hepato-toxicity of Ivy Gourd:
Alcoholic extract of the fruits of Ivy Gourd was
evaluated in CCl4- induced hepato-toxicity in
rats and levels of AST, ALT, ALP, total proteins,
total and direct bilirubin were evaluated. At a
dose level of 250 mg/kg, the alcoholic leaves
extract extensively (p<0.05) lowered the
activities of serum enzymes (AST, ALT and
ALP) and of bilirubin which were comparable to
that of silymarin (21).
Antihyperglycemic
Effects of Ivy Gourd:
and
Hypolipidemic
Effect of Ivy Gourd on Diabetes
Ivy Gourd is a wonderful plant having
antidiabetic activity, different parts of the plant
extracted with different solvents shows the
antidiabetic effect. The hypoglycemic effect of
orally administered extract of leaves and roots
of Ivy Gourd has been reported earlier but none
of the literatures or paper showed the
antidiabetic activity of fruit of the above plant as
in crude extract of fruit of the above plant as in
crude extract .The pectin isolated from the fruit
of the above plant at a dose of 200 mg/100g
BW/day showed a significant hypoglycemic
action in normal rats (17). The alcoholic extract of
Ivy Gourd leaves are found to be safe for
biological study as no lethal effect was
observed at 600mg/kg orally in mice. Mira et al
found that extract of leaves and stem is non
toxic to human being (18). Leaf extract of
Ivy Gourd is identified to be rich in β-carotene, a
major precursor of vitamin A from plant sources
as well. β-carotene of Ivy Gourd is a good
source of protein, fiber and a moderate source
of calcium. This plant has the higher efficiency
of lowering serum triglycerides as co pair to the
other plant. Extracts of Ivy Gourd (300 mg/kg)
significantly reduced blood glucose by 47.4 and
37.1 % (P < 0.01) on 7th day and by 59.7 and
48.5 % on 14th day . A significant reduction (P <
0.01) in serum total cholesterol of 31.7 and 43.3
% and serum triglycerides of 45.5 and 39.4 %
was observed on the 14th day with a single
dose of the extracts of Ivy Gourd (300 mg/kg)
most (22). Afia Akhtar,et.al 2007)
Antidyslipidemic activity of polyprenol from
Ivy Gourd
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Ethanol extract of Ivy Gourd showed significant
triglyceride (TG) and cholesterol-lowering
effects
in dyslipidemic hamster model.
Ethanolic extract was fractionated into
chloroform,
n-butanol
and
water-soluble
fractions and were evaluated. Activity was
proved to be concentrated in chloroform-soluble
fraction. Chloroform soluble fraction containing
active component was subjected to frequent
column chromatography, prepared a polyprenol
characterized as C60-polyprenol isolated for the
first time from this plant. It significantly
decreased serum TG by 42%, total cholesterol
(TC) 25% and glycerol (Gly) 12%, accompanied
HDL-C/TC ratio 26% in high fat diet (HFD)-fed
dyslipidemic hamsters at the dose of 50 mg/kg
body weight. Based on these investigations, it
was concluded that the compound polyprenol
secluded from leaves of Ivy Gourd acquire
marked antidyslipidemic movement ( 23).
Compound 1(C60-Polyprenol)
CONCLUSION
In
this
review
we
summaries
the
phytochemicals constituents and medicinal
activities of Ivy Gourd , generally the fruit of ivy
gourd is used as vegetable in all over india but
many few people are aware from its therapeutic
properties. This review gives new dimension to
researchers to find other valuable properties of
this wonderful plant. Only few work has been
done on its phytochemical parts .On the basis of
present phytochemical examination done on Ivy
gourd (Cephalandra indica), conclude that it
might be possess anticancer activity. Scientist
ISSN 0974 – 9446
need to further work on phytochemistry of this
plant.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am very thankful to every one of my class
member who give me courege to wright review
on this wonderful plant. My special thanks to
Mr. Rahul Ranjan and Miss Sonam Chawla for
there help in wrighting and for moral
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