View Slideshow View Slideshow View Slideshow

Plant Name: Mukia maderaspatana (L.) M.Roem.

Common name

Marathi:                     Chirati, Bilavi

Hindi:                         Aganaki, Agumaki, Bilari

English:                     Madras pea pumpkin, Rough bryony

Jawhar:                     Chirati

 

 

Identification guide

Leaves 

Symmetrical ovate leaves, angularly shallowly to deeply 3-5 lobed, are 3-9 cm long.

Flowers

Flowers yellow 1 cm across, axillary, sessile clusters. Calyx tube to 2 mm, villous; lobes subulate, erect. Petals 5, c. 3 mm long, ovate-oblong, obtuse, yellow. Stamens 3, free, inserted at base of calyx tube; anthers oblong, ciliate.

Female flowers solitary or in clusters. Ovary villous. Berry c. 1.2 cm across, globose, red. Seeds lenticular, rugose.

Fruit

Pea-sized fruits are green, turning to orange and then red, as they mature

 

Habit / Habitat

It is a climber and found in deciduous forests, also in the plains

 

Occurrence

1) Availability of the plant species in India: Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

2) Global distribution: It is distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics.

 

Edible parts

World wide use                                      Fruits, leaves and tender shoots

Used by tribal community in Jawhar       Fruits

 

Method of consumption

Jawhar tribal

 Ripe fruits are consumed directly.

 

Other Recipe

Thuvaiyal of M. maderaspatana

Ingredients

A bunch of leaves of Madras pea cucumber

A bunch Fresh Coriander Leaves Tuar dal              1 1/2 tbsp

Bengal gram       1 1/2 tbsp

Pepper                 1 tsp

Asafoetida          1/8 tsp

Salt         1/2 tsp

Oil           2 tsp

 

Method

1. Roast tuar (pigeon pea) dal and bengal gram in a tsp of oil, add pepper and asafoetida and continue to roast until the dal turns golden brown.

2. Transfer to a plate and roast the greens (well rinsed) in another tsp of oil until wilted and cooked.

3. Combine the roasted greens and dal, add salt and blend to a paste adding water.

4. Serve the thuvaiyal with idly, dosa or mix it with rice. (can add a small piece of coconut if desired when blending )

 

 

Nutritional and medicinal information

 

Nutritive Significance:

It has been reported to have essential amino acids and alkaloids, however very less research exist on its nutritional importance

 

Pharmaceutical significance

  1. Quercetin, phloroglucinol, and methanol extract of the dried whole plant (0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml) were studied for the inhibition of gluconeogenesis in rat liver slices and glucose uptake in isolated rat hemi-diaphragm (50 and 100 µg/ml). Phenolics of Mukia were analyzed by HPLC. Mukia had potentiated the action of insulin mediated glucose uptake (152.82 ± 13.30 mg/dl/g/30 min) compared with insulin control (112.41 ± 9.14 mg/dl/g/30 min) (p < 0.05). HPLC analysis revealed the presence of phenolics. Results provide scientific rationale for the use of Mukia in folk medicine as an antidiabetic nutraceutical.

 

  1. It has been widely studied for its anti-microbial activity, and ethanol extracts fresh plants reported to have mild activity against K. pneumonia. Petroleum ether extracts and methanol extracts reported to be active against S. aureus, B. subtilis, P. aeurginosa, and E. coli as well as fungal strains Candida tropicalis and Trichophyton rubrum.

 

Harvesting and preserving

Fruits can be directly collected from wild.

 

 

Season of collection:

Flowering: July to Sep

Fruiting from June onwards

How to grow it?

Seeds can be collected and sown in pots, allow them to germinate and plant in wild.

Method of storage:

Seeds for cultivation

 

Other uses

The plant extracts and different chemical fractions (petroleum ether, methanol fraction etc.) are used to treat various diseases and health related issues of livestock4.  For e.g. crude plant extracts are used to treat diseases such as adult cattle tick (infection caused by an ecto-parasite of cattle).

 

Classification    

Kingdom:            Plantae

Division:              Sermatophyta

Sub-division:     Angiospermae

Class:                    Dioctyledonae

Sub-Class:           Polypetalae

Series:                  Calyiflorae

Order:                   Passiflorales

Family:                 Cucurbitaceae

Genus:                 Mukia

Species:               maderaspatana

 

References

 

1 http://kitchenrhapsody.blogspot.in/2013/12/musumusukkai-thoodhuvalai-pannai-keerai.html

2 http://herbpathy.com/Uses-and-Benefits-of-Mukia-Maderaspatana-Cid5895

3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24251899

4 http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/17433/1/IJNPR%204(1)%209-26.pdf

 

No Comments

Add a comment:

Code

*Required fields



Contribution

Login