कर्कारुः  – Cucurbita pepo

 

Name – कर्कारुः

Botanical name – Cucurbita pepo

Description – Annual, heavy creeper; stem hispid; leaves simple, alternate, petiolate, leaf blade 5-lobed, 10-15 cm in diameter, soft hairs present on petiole and leaf blade; flowers yellow, unisexual, monoecious, 7.5-10.0 cm long, peduncle of female flower shorter than that of the male flower; fruiting peduncle woody, strongly grooved; pepo large, many-seeded; seeds exatbuminous, compressed

Chemical Constituents- Seeds contain resinous substance phytostearin and salicylic acid, fatty oil and sterols. Stem and Leaf: alkaloids, ulcer preventing vitamin U; Flower: flavonol glycerides; Pollen and Stigma : flavonoids; Seed: cucurbitine, stigmasta-7,24 (28)-dien-3betanol.

Use – Seeds used as a taeniacide