Crude drug sample data base
※Click on the image to enlarge it.
Crude drug name | Market name | Karela |
|---|---|---|
| Urudu name | Karela | |
| Arabic name / Persian name | Qitha al-barri / | |
| English name | Bitter Gourd | |
| Original plant name | Momordica charantia Linn., Bitter Gourd | |
| Family name | Cucurbitaceae | |
| Used part | Classification | Plant origin | Sub classification | fruit |
| Collection information | Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Karachi [Karachi], Sind , Amjad Unani Medicine (Pvt.) Ltd. | |
| Collection date | 1994/1/22 | |
| Collector | Tsuneo Namba | |
| Identifier | Javed Ahmad | |
| Description | Fruits are eaten as vegetable. | |
| TMPW No. | 14462 | |
The capital city, provincial capital city or the representative
location of its administrative area is indicated.
location of its administrative area is indicated.
Production area information
https://ethmed.toyama-wakan.net/img/pin_san.png
25.0700428
67.2847875
Collection information
Islamic Republic of Pakistan,Karachi [Karachi], Sind
https://ethmed.toyama-wakan.net/img/pin_nyu.png
Scientific information data base
| Crude drug name | Urudu name, English name | Karela [fruits]; Tukhm e-karela [seeds], Bitter Gourd | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic name / Persian name | Qitha al-barri / - | ||||
| crude drug image |
| ||||
| Original plant name | Momordica charantia Linn. | ||||
| Family name | Cucurbitaceae | ||||
| Used part | Fruits / seeds | ||||
| Distribution area | A climbing or trailing herb, cultivated all over India for its fruits, which are eaten as vegetables. | ||||
| Description | The mature fruit is greenish in colour but on drying turns reddish or yellowish in colour. Its seeds are rough or rugged and thick. One of its kinds is whitish in colour. It is an Indian plant. All parts of the plant are very bitter. | ||||
| Function and properties | Joints, Chest, Liver and spleen, Skin, Ulcers, Swellings, Excretion. Digestive, tonic, aperient, antiphlegmatic, anthelmintic, resolvent, expectorant, laxative and gives relief in diabetes. | ||||
| Specific actions | Antiflatulent, aphrodisiac and nervine tonic. | ||||
| Frequency in use | Cultivated abundantly. | ||||
| Common uses | Joints: It is particularly useful for individuals having phlegmatic temperament and therefore proves effective in chronic phlegmatic disorders including rheumatism and gout of cold phlegmatic origin. Chest: It is useful in cough, asthma and bronchitis. It is antiphlegmatic. Liver / spleen: It is useful in dropsy and spleen inflammation. It is stomachic. It is aperient. It is considered a blood purifier. Skin: Externally with vinegar the fruit rind applied in paste on pustular eruptions, burns, boils etc. Powdered fruit applied over leprous and other intractable ulcers and for healing wounds. Ulcers: Mixed with aromatics and chaulmoogra oil forms good ointment for psoriasis, scabies, malignant ulcers etc. Swellings: It resolves various types of swellings. If it is applied (after grinding) with vinegar it resolves the swellings of the throat. Excretion: It kills intestinal worms. It is also considered as an aphrodisiac. | ||||
| Side effect | Excessive use in any form causes dryness. | ||||
| Medical system | Unani | ||||
| Traditional concept | Temperament | It is hot and dry in the third degree. | |||
| Drug effect | It is antiflatulent, aphrodisiac and nervine tonic. | ||||
| Dosage | 3gm. (fruit powder); 12ml. (fresh juice of fruit); 12 to 24gm. (watery extract of leaves). | ||||
| Substitute | Jangli Karela (Momordica dioica Roxb. ex Willd.) | ||||
| Related drugs | (i) Momordica dioica Roxb. ex Willd. (Eng. - Small bitter-gourd). Throughout India, ascending to 5,000ft. in the Himalayas. It is generally met with in Bengal and in the forest of S. India. (ii) Momordica elaterium Linn. (Eng. - Squirting cucumber). Chopra et. al (1956) have not reported this species from India. | ||||
| Corrigent (corrective) | Filfil Siyah (Piper nigrum Linn.), black pepper and Dar-i-filfil (Piper longum Linn.), long pepper. | ||||
| Important compound preparations | Habb-Jund. | ||||
| References | Reference book Tips！ | Indian Materia Medica, Vols. 1-2, 1976 (Repr. 1989). Nadkarni, A.K., Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd., Bombay Vol. 1, pp 805-807. Makhzanul-Mufradat (Khawasul Adviyah), Hakeem Kabiruddin, Daftar Al-Masih, Qarol Bagh, Delhi. pp 453-454. Dictionary of Economic Plants in India, 1996 (2nd Rep.). Singh, U; Wadhwani, A. M. and Johri B.M. Indian council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. p 144. Al-Qanun Fil-Tibb. Avicenna. (English translation of the critical Arabic text), Book 2, 1998. Hameed, H. A. (editor), Dept. of Islamic Studies, Jamia Hamdard (Hamdard University), New Delhi. pp 358-359. Hamdard Pharmcopoeia of Eastern medicine, 1969. Said, H. M. (editor), The Times Press, Sadar Karachi. p 99. Indusyunic Medicine, 1997. Usmanghani, K., Saeed, A. and Alam, M. T. Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Karachi, Karachi. pp 294-295. | |||
| Remarks | Avicenna (Ibn Sina) has described Momordica elaterium Linn. (Eng. - Squirting cucumber; Arabic - Qiththa al-himmar). Its functions and properties look similar with the drug described here under Qiththa al-Barri (Bitter gourd). In the above compound preparation the water of the grounded fruits is mixed together after adding four other ingredients. Tablets of size No.3 are then made and coated with the silver foil. | ||||
| Last renewal date | 2024/02/27 | ||||
