INTRODUCTION:

In traditional medicine, there are numerous medicinal plants that have the potential to treat many diseases and disorders, one of them is Coccinia indica (family: Cucurbitaceae) popularly known as Kanduri in Hindi. The plant is very useful in traditional medicine. The plant has the reputation in Bengal of having a remarkable effect in reducing the amount of sugar in the urine of patients suffering from diabetes mellitus. Fruits and leaves of Coccinia indica are also prescribed in the treatment of snake-bite. The present work attempts to cover the existing literature on Coccinia indica with respect to its morphological characters, phytochemistry, summary of its various pharmacological activities and traditional uses.

HABITAT:

Coccinia indica is found in climate that is warm and humid. It is found in whole India in wild. It is more commonly seen in area like Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.¹

MORPHOLOGICAL PROFILE:²

Leaves:Leaves are 5-10 cm, long and broad, bright green above, paler beneath, studded and sometimes rough with papillae, palmately 5-nerved from a cordate base, often with circular glands between the nerves, obtusely 5-angled or sometimes deeply 5-lobed, the lobes broad, obtuse or acute, apiculate, more or less sinuate toothed, petioles 2-3.2 cm. long.

Flowers: Male flowers: Peduncles are 2-3.8cm.long and subfiliform. Calyx-tube is glabrous, broadly campanulate and 4-5 mm. long. Corolla is 2.5 cm. long, veined, pubescent inside and glabrous outside. Female flowers: Peduncles are 1.3-2.5cm. long. Ovary is fusiform, glabrous and slightly ribbed.

Fruits: Fruits are fusiform-ellipsoid, slightly beaked, 2.5-5 by 1.3-2.5 cm. sized, marked when immature with white streaks, bright scarlet when fully ripe.

Seeds: Seeds are obovoid and rounded at the apex, slightly papillose, much compressed and yellowish grey.

Roots: The fresh root is thick, tuberous, long tapering, more or less tortuous with a few fibrous rootlets attached to it. Roots are flexible, soft and break with a fibrous fracture. A transaction of root shows circular outline and is characteristic of storage type. Parenchyma is full of starch grains and thorough permeation of parenchyma with vascular elements is observed. The cork is composed of rows of cells.

PHYTOCHEMISTRY:

Plant contains resins, alkaloids, fatty acids, flavonoids and proteins as chief chemical constituents.

Lupeol

Palmitic acid

Oleic Acid

Linoleic Acid

Riboflavin

Taraxerol

PHARMACOLOGICAL PROFILE:

Anthelmintic Activity

Methanol extract of Coccinia indica fruits in the concentration of 50 mg/ml showed potent anthelmintic activity against Pheretima posthuma.³

Antioxidant activity

Oral administration of ethanolic extract of Coccinia indica (leaf) extract (CLEt) (200 mg/kg body weight) for 45 days resulted in a significant reduction in thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and hydroperoxides in rats.⁴

Anti-inflammatory, Analgesic and Antipyretic activity

Aqueous extract of Coccinia indica (leaves) produced marked analgesic and antipyretic activity at 300mg/kg dose when compared with standard drugs (Morphine and Paracetamol). The extract also showed significant anti-inflammatory activity.⁵ (Junaid Niazi et al )

Antimicrobial activity

Petroleum ether and methanolic extract of Coccinia indica showed the highest antimicrobial activity against gram-positive organisms.⁶

Antibacterial Activity

Ethanol and aqueous extracts of Coccinia indica showed promising antibacterial activity against the Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella typhimurium by agar well diffusion method and broth dilution method.⁷

Antihyperglycemic activity

Chronic administration of Coccinia Indica (fruits) extract at dose of 200mg/kg for 14 days reduces the blood glucose level of the diabetes induced animals as compared to diabetic control group.⁸

Hepatoproetcective activity

Coccinia indica leave extract at dose 400 mg/kg body weight showed potent hepatoproetcective activity in albino rats.⁹

TRADITIONAL USES:

The fruit of Coccinia indica is useful in biliousness and diseases of blood. The green fruit is chewed to cure sores on the tongue. The bark of root is used as cathartic. The leaves are applied externally in eruptions of the skin. The leaves of this plant are boiled in gingelly oil and applied externally in ringworm, psoriasis and itch. The leaves are also used as expectorant and antispasmodic. The oil is used in application to ulcers and as an injection into chronic sinuses. The plant is also used in the treatment of gonorrhea.

Table 1 Vernacular names of Coccinia indica

S.N.	Names	Language
1	Kanduri	Hindi
2	Bimbu	Bengal
3	Galedu	Gujerati
4	Bimbi	Marathi
5	Kundru	Punjab
6	Bimbaka	Sanskrit
7	Kovai	Tamil
8	Kundaru	Urdu

Table 2 Scientific Classification

Kingdom	Plantae
Division	Magnoliophyta
Class	Magnoliophyta
Order	Cucurbitales
Family	Cucurbitaceae
Genus	Coccinia
Species	Indica

CONCLUSION:

Now a day’s major concern of researchers is focused on the development of new novel herbal drugs that could be useful in the treatment of various disease problems. This versatile medicinal plant is the distinctive source of various types of chemical compounds, which are accountable of the various activities of the plant. Hence, extensive exploration is required to utilize their therapeutic efficacy to combat diseases.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

Yogesh Shivhare,the author, thankfully acknowledges to Mr. Rakesh Punekar, Head and Vice-Principal, RKDF College of Pharmacy, Bhopal (M.P.), in preparation of this manuscript.

REFERENCE:

1. www.ayushveda.com

2. Kirtikar KR, Basu BD. Indian Medicinal Plant. 1976: Vol. II, M/s Bishwas Singh, Nirali prakasan, Dehradun, 1151-1154.

3. Shivhare Yogesh, Soni Prashant, Singh Priya, Dangi Sonal and Baghel S Sourabh. Evaluation of Anthelmintic Activity of Coccinia indica (fruits). J. Chem. Pharm. Res., 2011: 3(1); 488-491

4. Venkateswaran S and Pari L.. Effect of Coccinia indica leaves on antioxidant status in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Journal of ethanopharmacology. 2003: vol 84, issue 2, 163-168.

5. Niazi Junaid, Singh Parabhdeep and Bansal Yogita. Anti-inflammatory, Analgesic and Antipyretic activity of aqueous extract of fresh leaves of Coccinia indica. Inflammopharmacology. 2009: 17: 239-244.

6. Syed Zeenat Shaheen, Bolla Krishna, Kandukuri vasu and Singara Charya MA. Antimicrobial activity of the fruit extracts of Coccinia indica. African Journal of Biotechnology. 2009: Vol. 8 (24); 7073-7076.

7. Hussain Arshad, Wahab Shadma, Zarin Iffat and Sarfaraj Hussain MD. Antibacterial Activity of the Leaves of Coccinia indica (W. and A) Wof India. Advances in Biological Research. 2010: 4 (5): 241-248.

8. Gunjan Manish, Jana K Goutam, Jha AK and Mishra Umashanker. Pharmacognsotic and Antihyperglycemic study of Coccinia indica. International Journal of Phytomedicine. 2010: 2; 36-40.

9. Kumar B. Shyam, D. Gnanasekaran V, Jaishree KP and Channabasavaraj. Hepatoprotective activity of Coccinia indica leaves extract. Int J Pharm Biomed Res 2010, 1(4), 154-156.

Received on 13.10.2012 Accepted on 26.12.2012

Asian J. Res. Pharm. Sci. 3(1): Jan.-Mar. 2013; Page 42-44