Praecitrullus fistulosus: A Miraculous Plant - asian pharma press

Asian J. Pharm. Tech. 2011; Vol. 1: Issue 1, Pg 9-12
[AJPTech.]
ISSN- 2231–5705 (Print)
www.asianpharmaonline.org
ISSN- 2231–5713 (Online) 0974-3618
REVIEW ARTICLE
Praecitrullus fistulosus: A Miraculous Plant
Shweta Gautam 1 , Priya Singh 2 and Yogesh Shivhare 1 *
1 Department of Pharmacognosy, RKDF College of Pharmacy, Bhopal (M.P.), India
2 Department of Pharmacognosy, Lakshminarain College of Pharmacy, Bhopal (M.P.), India
*Corresponding Author E-mail: yogesh_aot@rediffmail.com
ABSTRACT:
Many herbal remedies have been employed in various medical systems for the treatment and management of different
diseases. During past several years, there has been growing interest among the usage of various medicinal plants from
traditional system of medicine for the treatment of different ailments. Traditional system of medicinal consists of large
number of plants with various medicinal and pharmacological importances and hence represents a priceless tank of
new bioactive molecules. Genus Praecitrullus fistulosus is very similar to Citrullus in its morphological characters, but
differs in the stratification of pollen grains, haploid chromosome number and to some extent in leaf morphology. This
review attempts to encompass the available literature on Praecitrullus fistulosus with respect to its pharmacognostic
characters, chemical constituents, summary of its various pharmacological activities and traditional uses.
KEYWORDS: Praecitrullus fistulosus, Citrullus, Ecology
INTRODUCTION:
Plants have played a significant role in maintaining human
health and improving the quality of human life for
thousands of years and have served humans as well as
valuable components of medicines, seasonings, beverages,
cosmetics and dyes. Herbal medicine is based on the
premise that plants contain natural substances that can
promote health and alleviate illness. 1 Herbal plants produce
a variety of chemical compounds that act upon the body and
are used to prevent or treat disease or promote health and
well-being. Herbal drugs have increasingly been used
worldwide during the last few decades as evidenced by
rapidly growing global and national markets of herbal
drugs. 2 Herbal medicines are in great demand in the
developed as well as developing countries for primary
healthcare because of their wide biological and medicinal
activities, higher safety margins and lesser costs. 3 Herbal
medicines may be associated with a broad variety of
microbial loading and exert an important impact on the
overall quality of herbal products and preparations.
Generally, herbs are valued for their distinctive aroma,
colour and flavor. Analysis of most frequently used plantbased
therapies in the ayurvedic system revealed that 43%
of them have been tested on humans, while 62% have been
the subject of one or more animal studies. 4
Received on 13.03.2011 Accepted on 22.04.2011
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Asian J. Pharm. Tech. 1(1): Jan.-Mar. 2011; Page 9-12
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This review attempts to include the existing literature on
Praecitrullus fistulosus with respect to its pharmacognostic
characters, chemical constituents, synopsis of its various
pharmacological activities and traditional uses.
Praecitrullus fistulosus:
The Cucurbitaceous are mostly prostrate or climbing
herbaceous annuals comprising about 90 genera and 700
species that are further characterized by commonly having
5-angled stems and coiled tendrils.
Origin and geographical distribution:
Praecitrullus fistulosus is cultivated as a vegetable in India,
Pakistan and Afghanistan. The origin is probably northwestern
India, where wild types may still be found in the
wild. In Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai and Rajasthan it is
quite important as a cultivated market vegetable. The Hindi
name ‘tinda’ is commonly used in other parts of the world.
In Africa it is cultivated locally, mainly in East Africa, as a
vegetable for the Asian population. In Ghana and Kenya it
is grown as an export commodity for the United Kingdom
market. It is also grown on a small scale in the United
States. 5
Synonyms:
Citrullus fistulosus (Stocks), Praecitrullus fistulosus
(Stocks), Citrullus lanatus, Citrullus vulgaris var fistulosus
(Stocks), Colocynthis citrullus var. fistulosus (Stocks). 6

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[AJPTech.]
Ecology:
Tinda is mainly cultivated in the lowlands from sea-level up
to approximately 1000 m altitude. It likes warm, sunny
conditions of 25–30°C at daytime and 18°C or more during
the night and performs less well in cooler and humid areas.
In India it is either grown in the dry season (February to end
of April) or in the rainy season (mid-June to end of July).
Tinda prefers light or sandy soils where its roots can
penetrate easily. Moderately fertile to fertile soil is required
for early closure of the vegetative cover.
Diseases and Pests:
The most serious fungal diseases are downy mildew
(Pseudoperonospora cubensis) and to a lesser extent
powdery mildew (Erysiphe cichoracearum and
Sphaerotheca fuliginea), which can be controlled by
spraying a carbamate fungicide. Choanephora
cucurbitarum causes wet rot of the fruit and another major
disease of the fruit is anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum
gloeosporioides. There are also several virus diseases that
can cause severe fruit abortion, defoliation and fruit
distortion. These viruses are usually transmitted by aphids,
thrips and white flies (Bemisia tabaci). Virus infections can
be reduced by spraying appropriate insecticides and by
early planting before the heavy rains. The most serious
pests are melon fruit fly (Dacus spp.) and leaf beetles
(Epilachna chrysomelina), which can be controlled with
insecticides. 7
Morphological characteristics: 8
Leaves:
Leaves are alternate and usually palmately 5-lobed or
divided, stipules are absent. Leaves sparingly pinnatifid,
lamina sparsely hispid all over, densely hispid on veins and
veinlets of under surface, margin minutely denticulate,
apparently entire, young leaves villous to densely hispid.
Probract spathulate 0.8 cm long.
Levels of seed proteins in Citrullus and Praecitrullus
accessions:
Variation among 17 accessions of Citrullus lanatus from
different geographic regions and interspecific relationships
of six taxa of Citrullus and Praecitrullus were studied using
electrophoretic patterns of their seed storage proteins.
Globulins, the salt soluble proteins, represented the major
fraction with their proportion varying between 56.6% and
67.0%. These were followed by albumins (16.6-20.8%) and
glutelins (13.5-18.5%) with prolamins as the lowest (2.2-
4.1%) of the four fractions. Two-dimensional gel
electrophoresis under non reducing conditions in the first
dimension and reducing conditions in the second revealed
disulphide-bonded subunit pairs of molecular weight 53, 52,
50 and 41 kDa, unlike the single subunit pair generally
reported in different cucurbits, each consisting of a large
and a small subunit. In the UPGMA dendrogram based on
polypeptide patterns, the occurrence of C. lanatus var.
lanatus, C. lanatus var. citroides and C. lanatus accession
PI 482318 in one sub cluster suggested that
phylogenetically C. lanatus var. citroides and C. lanatus
var. lanatus are closely related. The recently described
annual wild species, Citrullus rehmii, occurred
independently nearest to the subcluster of these cultivated
and wild taxa. Citrullus colocynthis, the perennial wild
species occurred farther from this cluster showing relatively
more genetic distance from the watermelons. Praecitrullus
fistulosus was out clustered and appeared genetically distant
from all the Citrullus taxa; this supported its placement in a
separate genus unlike its nomenclature as a botanical
variety of watermelon or as a separate species of Citrullus
proposed in certain earlier studies. 9
Flowers:
Flowers are actinomorphic and nearly always unisexual.
The perianth has a short to prolonged epigynous zone that
bears a calyx of 3-6 lobes and 3-6 petals or more frequently
a 3-6 lobed sympetalous corollas. The androecium is highly
variable, consisting of basically 5 distinct to completely
connate stamens that frequently are twisted, folded or
reduced in number. The gynoecium consists of a single
compound pistil of 2-5 carpels, generally with one style and
as many style branches or major stigma lobes as carpels,
and an inferior ovary with one locule and usually numerous
ovules on 2-5 parietal placentae or 3 locules with numerous
ovules on axile placentae.
Fruits
The fruit is a type of berry called a pepo by Gerald Carr.
The fruit is approximately spherical, and 5–8 cm in
diameter. Fruit about the size of a small turnip, depressed at
each end, hispid when young afterwards glabrous.
10
Thiamin
Carotene
Ascorbic acid, Riboflavin, Niacin
Traditional uses
10, 11
Praecitrullus fistulosus may be a useful source of resistance
to whiteflies for the improvement of watermelons. Tinda is
an immature fruits are used in rayata or vegetable curries.
The seeds of tinda are roasted and consumed in the same
way as watermelon or egusi seeds. In India tinda is used as
fodder and in medicine. The entire immature fruit is used as

Asian J. Pharm. Tech. 2011; Vol. 1: Issue 1, Pg 9-12
a cooked vegetable. In India the fruits are also pickled and
candied.
[AJPTech.]
Table 1 Vernacular names of Praecitrullus fistulosus 12
Languages Vernacular names
English Indian round melon, Indian round gourd, Round
gourd, Round melon. Indian Round Gourd, Indian
Round Melon, Round Gourd, Round Melon, Round-
Melon, Squash-Melon, Tinda.
Marathi Dhemase
Punjab Tandus,Tendu,Tinda
Nepalese Matyangre pharsi, Tinda pharsii (Tinda pharsi).
Rajasthan Tindsi
Sind Dilpasand
Telugu Tinda kaaya
Tamil Kovaikkaai
13, 14
Table 2 Chemical constituents
Chemical constituents Quantity (per100g edible portion)
Water 93.5g
Protein 1.4g
Fat 0.2g
Carbohydrate 3.6g
Fibre 1.6g
Calcium
25mg
Iron
0.9mg
Potassium
24mg
Carotene
13g
Thiamin
0.04mg
Riboflavin
0.08mg
Niacin
0.3mg
Ascorbic acid
18mg
Copper
11ppm
Nikel

Asian J. Pharm. Tech. 2011; Vol. 1: Issue 1, Pg 9-12
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