Antibacterial and hypoglycemic activity of coccinia grandis (L.) voigt plant

Family Cucurbitaceae is known for food, medicine and musical instruments etc. Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt (Cucurbitaceae) commonly known as ‘Ivy gourd’; ‘Kundru’ in Hindi. In India, ivy gourd is often recommended to diabetics due to its low glyc emic index and its possible ability to help regular blood glucose. Ivy gourd is rich in beta-carotene.

Aqueous and ethanol extracts from the plant have shown hypoglycemic principles (Chopra et al., 1980; Manandhar 2002). The roots, stems, leaves and whole plant of C. grandis are used in the treatment of jaundice, bronchitis, skin eruptions, burns, insect bites, fever, indigestion, nausea, eye infections, allergy, syphilis, gonorrhea, etc. (Kirthikar and Basu,1987;Wasantwisut and Viriyapanich,2003). Leaves of Cocciniagrandis (L.) Voigt exhibit significant antioxidant activity in ethanol treated rats. It is claimed that these products help regulate blood sugar levels.

Thus, the above literature reveals that the Coccinia grandis has a huge potential to explore for the benefits of mankind. The objective of the present work is to make an analysis of the ethno botanical information on these plants used for diabetes mellitus control.