More Than Just A Gastroenteritis - Bottle gourd (Lagenaria Siceraria) Toxicity Diagnosed in the Emergency Department

BackgroundBottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) is sometimes used in complementary medicine practice for the treatment of chronic ailments. It belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. However, there have been reports of toxicity due to consumption of bottle gourd juice leading to severe abdominal upset and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. As emergency physicians we need to be aware of such complementary medicine induced haemorrhagic gastroenteritis as possible etiology of gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Case presentationWe present a case of a 41-year-old gentleman who presented to the emergency department (ED) with multiple episodes of vomiting, hematemesis and diarrhoea after consuming bottle gourd juice. The patient was resuscitated and stabilized with fluids, proton pump inhibitors and antiemetics. He was subsequently admitted to General Medicine ward for further management. He continued to receive symptomatic treatment in the ward and underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) during his hospitalization stay. His symptoms improved and he was discharged stable five days later. ConclusionEarly recognition of this rare presentation of bottle gourd toxicity is important in our local context especially where traditional medicine is widely prevalent nowadays. Treatment is supportive. Public awareness of dangerous effects from the consumption of bitter bottle gourd juice and complementary medicine without proper consultation with practitioner plays a crucial role to prevent further cases. Physicians need to advise patients on the use of traditional medicine and their potential side effects.

Seaweed Extract Improves Lagenaria siceraria Young Shoot Production, Mineral Profile and Functional Quality

Vegetable landraces represent the main source of biodiversity in Sicily. Lagenaria siceraria is appreciated by Southern Mediterranean consumers for its immature fruits and young shoots. Plant-based biostimulants supply, such as seaweed extract (SwE), is a contemporary and green agricultural practice applied to ameliorate the yield and quality of vegetables. However, there are no studies concerning the effects of SwE on L. siceraria. The current study evaluated the effects of SwE foliar application (0 or 3 mL L−1) on five L. siceraria landraces (G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5) grown in greenhouses. Growth traits, first female flower emission, fruit yield, young shoot yield, fruit firmness, young shoot nitrogen use efficiency (NUEys) and specific young shoot quality parameters, such as soluble solids content (SSC), mineral profile, ascorbic acid, and polyphenols, were appraised. Plant height and number of leaves at 10, 20 and 30 days after transplant (DAT) were significantly higher in plants treated with SwE as compared with untreated plants. Treating plants with SwE increased marketable fruit yield, fruit mean mass, young shoot yield and number of young shoots by 14.4%, 15.0%, 22.2%, 32.4%, and 32.0%, respectively as compared with untreated plants. Relevant increments were also recorded for NUEys, P, K, Ca, Mg, ascorbic acid and polyphenols concentration. SwE application did not significantly affect total yield and SSC. Furthermore, SwE treated plants produced a lower number of marketable fruits than non-treated plants. The present study showed that SwE at 3 mL L−1 can fruitfully enhance crop performance, young shoot yield and quality of L. siceraria.

Effets des tourteaux de graines décortiquées du cultivar bebu de Citrullus lanatus et de Lagenaria sicerari a sur les performances de croissance du poulet de chair

La valorisation des ressources phytogénétiques non conventionnelles pour l’amélioration de la qualité des aliments pour animaux a motivé cette recherche. L’étude menée à la ferme et aux Laboratoires de Génétique et de Biochimie de l’Université Nangui Abrogoua, à Abidjan, en Côte d’Ivoire, a été réalisée dans le but d’évaluer les effets des tourteaux de graines de Citrullus lanatus et de Lagenaria siceraria sur les performances croissance du poulet de chair, pendant 42 jours. Pour la réalisation de cet essai, les poussins ont été répartis au hasard dans sept box à raison de 40 sujets correspondant chacun à un aliment (BT0 ; BT1Cl (10%) ; BT2Cl (20%) ; BT3Cl (30%) ; BT1Ls (10%) ; BT2Ls (20%) ; BT3Ls (30%)). La pesée des différentes rations servies et des refus se faisait avant toute nouvelle distribution, pour l’évaluation de l’ingestion. Les animaux ont été pesés périodiquement pour la détermination de leur croissance journalière. Il ressort des résultats que, quel que soit l’âge, le poids des animaux nourris à la ration témoin a été plus élevée que ceux enregistrés au niveau des sujets soumis aux rations contenant les tourteaux de cucurbites. Il varie de 1127,77± 3,45 g à 748,75 ± 1,25 g avec l’aliment témoin ; de 455,12 ± 2,19 à 177,50 ± 1,50 g avec l’aliment contenant Citrullus lanatus (bebu) et de 470,51 ± 2,49 à 275,00 ± 1,61g avec l’aliment contenant Lagenaria siceraria. Le GMQ est plus élevé chez les sujets alimentés à la ration témoin que chez ceux ayant reçu les cucurbites dans leurs rations ; il varie de 84,52 ± 1,04 g / j à 62,38 ± 0,45 g / j avec l’aliment témoin ; de 28,57 ± 0,35 à 8,81 ± 0,16 g / j avec l’aliment contenant Citrullus lanatus (bebu) et de 22,86 ± 0,24à 9,76 ± 0,18g / j avec l’aliment contenant Lagenaria siceraria. Par ailleurs, les IC les plus intéressants ont été obtenus chez les sujets soumis aux rations contenant les cucurbites ; il varie de 1,78 ± 0,01 à 0,35 ± 0,01 avec la ration contenant Citrullus lanatus (bebu) ; de 1,83 ± 0,00 à 0,68 ± 0,01 avec l’aliment contenant Lagenaria siceraria et de 4,44 ± 0,01 à 1,47 ± 0,02 avec l’aliment témoin.

Evaluation of Anti-Psychotic potential of Phytocompound rich Fractions of Methanolic extract of Lagenaria siceraria (Bottle Gourd) fruits in Murine Models of Schizophrenia

Context: Psychosis is a mental disorder, which is characterized as the reducing association with certainty and conviction. Around 1-2% of the world's population suffers from psychosis. The people affected by psychosis have hallucinations, delusions, forgetfulness, abolition, and anhedonia. Currently existing most of the anti- psychotic medications express the adverse drug reactions. Thus for the management of psychosis, satisfactory and adequate remedies are not available. Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standley (LS) (Cucurbitaceae) fruits, popularly known as “bottle gourd” (English) and “Lauki” (Hindi), exhibit numerous intrinsic therapeutic properties and actions. However limited scientific investigations have been performed to determine the neuroprotective potential of LS fruits. With this background, the present study was intended to investigate LS fruits for the assessment of anti-psychotic activity. Aims and Objectives: The rationale of this study was to evaluate the anti-psychotic activity of the phytocompound rich fractions of the methanolic extract of LS i.e., chloroform fraction of the methanolic extract (CFME), and acetone fraction of the methanolic extract (AFME) by using experimental models of cataleptic and stereotypic behavior in Swiss Albino mice. Materials and Methods: Haloperidol-induced catalepsy and apomorphine-induced stereotypy were the experimental screening tests performed for the assessment of anti-psychotic activity of the phytocompound rich fractions of methanolic extract of LS fruits at the doses of 100, 200, and 400mg/kg, p.o. in mice. Results: CFME and AFME, 100-400 mg/kg, significantly reduced cataleptic score and stereotypic behavior in mice, in dose-dependent manner. At doses of 200 and 400mg/ kg, AFME (P<0.001) exhibited more significant effect than CFME. In addition CFME and AFME did not generate motor dysfunction in mice. Preliminary phytochemical screening on CFME revealed the presence of saponins, phytosterols, and terpenoids, while phytochemical investigations on AFME indicated the presence of saponins, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and tannins. This was the first scientific report, which indicates that the LS fruits exhibit anti-psychotic action, confirming the folklore claims. Future investigations and studies should emphasize separation, characterization, and identification of the bioactive phytoconstituents and also on evaluating the precise mechanism involved in the anti-psychotic activity of both the fractions.

Non-Destructive Assessment of Edible Seed Chemical Content by Near-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging for the Improvement of Nutritional Traits in Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria Siceraria)

The edible seeds of bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.] are rich in oils, proteins and minerals of high nutritional quality. They are highly prized in pan tropical regions where they constitute valuable resources for food and nutrition security. In this study, near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (NIR-HSI) was combined with chemometrics to assess the variability of seed chemical content of African cultivars for the selection of nutritional traits. Six hundred seeds of four accessions belonging to two cultivars were collected from the Ivory Coast (West Africa) and analysed. The NIR-HSI spectra collected on whole seeds in the 1100-2400 nm range revealed that the main absorption bands of the seed chemical content were associated with water, lipids and proteins. The absorbance values between seeds of the same accession in these spectral regions varied up to 1.8 folds. Among the two chemometric tools used, principal component analysis (PCA) did not separate the accessions while Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) discriminated the accessions with 87.33 % to 94.67 %, and the cultivars with 90 % to 92 % correct classification. Seed oils from bottle gourd are for instance rich in linoleic acid which is an essential fatty acid for human health. The non-destructive and qualitative determination of the content of single seeds was demonstrated in the study and provides the opportunity to select superior seeds for the improvement of key nutritional traits in bottle gourd. Lagenaria siceraria, near-infrared hyperspectral imaging, seed chemical content, PCA, PLS-DA, nutrition security

SEVERITY AND INTENSITY OF FUNGAL DISEASES OF CUCURBIT CROPS OF HAMIRPUR REGION, HP, INDIA

Cucurbitaceae is the vegetable family enriched with numerous vitamins and minerals. In early rainy season cucurbits are the host of different fungal pathogens. In present study, four fungal diseases dominant on three members of cucurbitaceae family are observed in Bhoranj block of District Hamirpur, lie in lower foot hills of Himachal Pradesh. Four fungal diseases along with host plants are leaf spot of Lagenaria siceraria, downy mildews of Cucumis sativus, powdery mildews of Coccinia grandis and powdery mildews of Cucumis sativus. Among all these diseases, Disease Incidence and Disease Severity of Powdery mildews of Coccinia grandis are most dominant i.e. 40.3±1 and 51.2±1 respectively. Disease Incidence and Disease Severity of Leaf spot of Lagenaria siceraria is least i.e. 12.5±1 and 1.1±1, respectively.