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Trichosanthes cucumerina L.

Overview
General Information
ID Info
Similar Species
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Aperçu
Renseignements Généraux
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Family :

Famille :

Cucurbitaceae

Synonym(s) :

Synonyme(s) :

Common Name(s) :

Nom(s) commun(s) :

Snake gourd

(English) (Wiersema & León 2016; USDA-ARS 2024)
Annual gourd (English) (Wiersema & León 2016; USDA-ARS 2024)
Snakegourd (English) (CABI 2024; ITIS 2024)
Serpent vegetal (French) (CABI 2024)
瓜叶栝楼 gua ye gua lou (Chinese) (FOC 1994+)
Slangechichinda (Danish) (Wiersema & León 2016)
Schlangen- Haargurke (German) (CABI 2024)

Trichosanthes cucumerina seeds

  • Trichosanthes cucumerina seeds

  • Trichosanthes cucumerina seed, with tissue

  • Trichosanthes cucumerina seed, without tissue

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Overview

Aperçu

Regulation :

Remarques Réglementation:

    Regulation Notes:

    Distribution :

    Répartition :

    Trichosanthes cucumerina is believed to have been domesticated in Asia, and widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries of southern and southeast Asia, Africa, China and Australasia as T. cucumerina var. anguina (Duyfjes and Pruespan 2004; DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010). The wild form, T. cucumerina var. cucumerina, is distributed in India, southern China, southeast Asia and Australia (Duyfjes and Pruespan 2004; DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010).

    Habitat and Crop Association :

    Habitat et Cultures Associées :

    T. cucumerina var. cucumerina prefers warm regions with a seasonal climate (i.e. wet and dry seasons), and is found in sandy soils along rivers, in forests, scrub-dominated areas, grasslands and disturbed areas (Duyfjes and Pruespan 2004; DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010; Cooper and de Boer 2011). Pratap et al. (2013) listed T. cucumerina as a weed in Saccharum officinarum (sugarcane) fields in India.

    Economic Use, cultivation area, and Weed Association :

    Utilisation économique, zone de culture et association de mauvaises herbes :

    The cultivated T. cucumerina var. anguina prefers loamy or sandy-loam textured fertile soils, but does not grow well in heavy, clay soils (Bharathi et al. 2013). The crop is most productive in areas with hot temperatures, abundant rainfall, high humidity and moist soils, but is not tolerant of waterlogged soils (Bharathi et al. 2013).

    T. cucumerina var. anguina has been developed chiefly for culinary purposes. The immature fruits are eaten as a vegetable, and the reddish pulp of mature fruits is used as Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) substitute in stews and soups (Adebooye et al. 2006; DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010).

    Wild T. cucumerina var. cucumerina plants and fruits are traditional medicine in the Ayurveda and Siddha systems of India and Sri Lanka for antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, larvicidal and antibiotic purposes (Bharathi et al. 2013; Mohan and Udayan 2014; Bobade et al. 2022).

    Duration of Life Cycle :

    Durée du cycle vital:

    Annual

    Dispersal Unit Type :

    Type d’unité de dispersion :

    Seed

    General Information

    RENSEIGNEMENTS GÉNÉRAUX

    Trichosanthes is the largest genus in the Cucurbitaceae with over 90 species, distributed from India to Taiwan, and south to Australia (DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010; Bharathi et al. 2013). T. cucumerina is cultivated for both nutrition and medicine, and has morphologically dissimilar wild and domesticated forms classed as varieties of T. cucumerina (Ali and Al-Hemaid 2010).

    T. cucumerina plants are monoecious, and rely on cross-pollination to set seed (Bharathi et al. 2013). The flowers have heavy, sticky pollen, and are strictly insect pollinated, mainly by moths in the family Pyralidae (Bharathi et al. 2013). The number of seeds per fruit depend on the variety and cultivar; the wild T. cucumerina var. cucumerina has only a few seeds, and the cultivated T. cucumerina var. anguina has 50-70 seeds per fruit (Adebooye et al. 2006; DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010).

    Seeds are generally sown directly into the soil, and soaking in water the day before will speed up germination (Bharathi et al. 2013). The wild T. cucumerina var. cucumerina seeds do not appear to germinate as readily as the domesticated, and a potassium nitrate and kinetin solution is suggested to increase germination (Mohan and Udayan 2014).

     

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    Identification

    Identification

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    • Pepo of Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina

      Size

      • Pepo size from literature:
        • length: up to 100 cm (Duyfjes and Pruesapan 2004)
        • length: 30–100(–150) cm (DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010)

      Shape

      • Fruit is elongated oval, often contorted at the end

      Surface Texture

      • Fruit surface smooth

      Colour

      • Fruit is dark green with light green longitudinal stripes when immature, turning orange or red from the bottom up as the fruit matures (Cooper and de Boer 2011)

      Other Features

      • Fruit contains 50-70 seeds (Adebooye et al. 2006; DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010)
      • Pulp is sweet tasting (DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010)

    • Pepo of Trichosanthes cucumerina var. cucumerina

      Size

      • Pepo size from literature:
        • length: 2.5–5 cm; width: 1.5–4 cm (Duyfjes and Pruesapan 2004)
        • length: 21–50 mm; width 18–25 mm (Cooper and de Boer 2011)
        • length: (2.5–)4–6 cm (DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010)

      Shape

      • Fruit oval, egg-shaped, globose or spindle-shaped
      • End of fruit short- or long-pointed

      Surface Texture

      • Fruit surface smooth

      Colour

      • Fruit generally green or dark green with light green spots or longitudinal stripes
      • Mature fruits may be orange or red coloured (Cooper and de Boer 2011)
      • Inside of fruit orange, yellow or whitish coloured (Cooper and de Boer 2011)

      Other Features

      • Fruit generally contains 3-12 seeds (DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010; Cooper and de Boer 2011)
      • Pulp is generally bitter tasting (DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010; Cooper and de Boer 2011)
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    • Seed

      Size

      • Size from literature:
        • Trichosanthes cucumerina seed length: 6-18 mm; width: 4-9 mm; thickness: 2.5-3.5 mm (Duyfjes and Pruesapan 2004)
        • Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina seed length: 14-18 mm (DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010)
        • Trichosanthes cucumerina var. cucumerina seed length: 6-10 mm width: 4-7 mm; thickness: 3-5 mm (Cooper and de Boer 2011)
        • Trichosanthes cucumerina var. cucumerina seed length: 6-8(-10) mm (DeWilde and Duyfjes 2010)

      Shape

      • Seeds are oval shaped with truncate ends, sides are wavy with small lobes
      • Seed is compressed and the hilum end is thinner than the rest of the seed

      Surface Texture

      • The seed has a thin tissue covering that obscures the seed texture
      • Thin tissue layer appears smooth, bubbled texture can be seen with 20x magnification
      • Seed surface appears rough and granular, and tubercles are visible under 25x magnification
      • Surface tubercles are a mix of papillate, warty and irregular forms
      • A deep, wavy U-shaped groove (pleurogram) is on each flat side of the seed

      Colour

      • Seeds with the tissue layer intact are greyish-brown or yellowish coloured
      • Seed surface under the tissue yellowish brown coloured
      • Immature seed white or grey (Osuagwu et al. 2022)

      Trichosanthes cucumerina seeds

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    >

    • Embryo

      Size

      • Embryo is rudimentary

      Shape

      • Embryo is spatulate (Martin 1946)

      Endosperm

      • Nutritive tissue stored in the cotyledons

      Other Features

      • Embryo in basal position
      • Embryo cotyledons white coloured, soft and oily

    Identification Tips

    CONSEILS POUR L’IDENTIFICATION

    Trichosanthes is the largest genus in the Cucurbitaceae with about 100 species (Dewilde and Duyfjes 2010). The seed shape of Trichosanthes species is variable, and can be oval shaped, rectangular, with wavy edges, compressed, inflated, and some with 3 compartments (Duyfjes and Pruesapan 2004; Cooper and de Boer 2011).

    T. cucumerina seeds have a combination of features that distinguish them from other Trichosanthes species. They are oval shaped with wavy edges, and are compressed, but thicker than many species. The flat sides each have a U-shaped groove, and a combination papillate, warty and irregular tubercles. A thin covering of yellowish tissue obscures the surface features.

    Trichosanthes cucumerina seed, without tissue

    Additional Botany Information

    AUTRES RENSEIGNEMENTS BOTANIQUES

    Flowers/Inflorescence

    • Trichosanthes cucumerina is monoecious, with separate male and female flowers on the same plant
    • Flowers open during the day, most other Trichosanthes species are open at night (Duyfjes and Pruesapan 2004)
    • Male flowers are on short stalks attached to a stem 70-240 mm long (Cooper and de Boer 2011)
    • Male flower diameter: up to 30 mm, petals white, long filaments along the edges up to 10 mm long (Duyfjes and Pruesapan 2004 ; Cooper and de Boer 2011)
    • Female flowers are solitary or paired where the male inflorescence meets the stem (axillary), pedicels 3-50 mm long (Cooper and de Boer 2011)
    • Female flower diameter: 9-25 mm, petals similar to male flowers (Cooper and de Boer 2011)

    Vegetative Features

    • Trichosanthes cucumerina grows as a vine 2-3 m long, stems are slender, diameter 1-2mm
    • Leaves round or egg-shaped, edges entire or 3-7 lobed, the base is heart-shaped and the end is pointed, 23–145 mm long, 25–135 mm wide (Cooper and deBoer 2011)

    Similar Species

    ESPÈCES SEMBLABLES

    Similar species are based on a study of seed morphology of various species, and those with similar dispersal units are identified. The study is limited by physical specimen and literature availability at the time of examination, and possibly impacted by the subjectivity of the authors based on their knowledge and experience. Providing similar species information for seed identification is to make users aware of similarities that could possibly result in misidentification.

    Trichosanthes dioica Roxb.

    This dioecious species is used both as a vegetable and medicinally in southern Asia, especially in India (Bharathi et al. 2013). The seeds are oval shaped, reddish coloured, inflated and with a smooth edge compared to the yellowish-brown, compressed, wavy-edged seeds of T. cucumerina.

    Momordica charantia L.

    Momordica charantia grows in scrub and forest edges in the tropics and subtropics (Dewilde and Duyfjes 2010). Seeds are smaller than T. cucumerina (length: 8–11(–15) mm; width: 5–8 mm, Dewilde and Duyfjes 2010) and are brown coloured, oblong-shaped with flat-topped tubercles.

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    Reference(s)

    Référence(s)

    Adebooye, O.C., Oloyede, F.M. and Onagoruwa, O.O., 2006. Fruit Characteristics and Nutrient Composition of Landrace Morphotypes of Snake Tomato, Journal of Vegetable Science, 11:5-16.

    Ali, M. A., Al-Hemaid, F. M. A. 2010. Trichosanthes anguina L. is variety of Trichosanthes cucumerina L. – evidence based on molecular phylogenetic analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA. International Journal of Molecular Biology 1:1-14.

    Bharathi, L.K., Behera, T.K., Sureja A.K., Todd, K.J.J. and Wehner, C. 2013. Snake Gourd and Pointed Gourd: Botany and Horticulture. Horticultural Reviews 41: 457-495.

    Bobade, A.A., Thatte, C.V. and Tijare, R.B. 2022. Trichosanthes cucumerina: A perspective on various medicinal uses or activities. GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 20:141–147.

    Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI). 2024. Invasive Species Compendium, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/journal/cabicompendium Accessed July 15, 2024.

    Cooper, W.E. and de Boer, H.J. 2011. A taxonomic revision of Trichosanthes L. (Cucurbitaceae) in Australia, including one new species from the Northern Territory. Austrobaileya 8: 364–386.

    DeWilde, W.J.J.O., Duyfjes B.E.E. 2010. Cucurbitaceae. In: Flora Malesiana Vol.19. Leiden, The Netherlands, Foundation Flora Malesiana: 1-342.

    Duyfjes, B.E.E. and Pruesapan. 2004. The genus Trichosanthes L. (Cucurbitaceae) in Thailand. Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany). 32: 76-109.

    Flora of China (FOC) 1994+. Trichosanthes cucumerina Vol. 19 Page 38 (English edition). http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200022762 Accessed July 15, 2024

    Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). 2024. https://www.itis.gov/ Accessed July 15, 2024.

    International Seed Morphology Association (ISMA). 2020. Method for Seed Size Measurement. Version 1.0. ISMA Publication Guide.

    Martin, A.C. 1946. The Comparative Internal Morphology of Seeds. The American Midland Naturalist, 36: 513-660.

    Mohan, S. and Udayan, P.S. 2014. Germination studies of Trichosanthes cucumerina (Cucurbitaceae) – a commercially important medicinal plant for conservation. Discourse- Xaverian Research Journal 2:35-40.

    Osuagwu, A.N., Aguoru C.U., Omoigui L.O. and Olasan, J.O. 2022. Descriptive and Vegetative Characterization of fifteen ecotypes of Snake Gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina L.) in Nigeria. Indonesian Journal of Agricultural Research 5:100 – 108.

    Pratap, T., Singh, R., Pal, R., Yadaw, S. and Singh, V. 2013. Integrated weed management studies in sugarcane ratoon. Indian Journal of Weed Science 45: 257–259.

    United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS). 2024. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomysearch Accessed July 15, 2024.

    United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). 2024. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA. http://plants.usda.gov Accessed September 12, 2024.

    Wiersema, John, H. and Blanca León. 2016. World Economic Plants. Available from: VitalSource Bookshelf, (2nd Edition). Taylor & Francis.

     

    Author(s)

    AUTEUR(S)

    Jennifer Neudorf, Angela Salzl

    Canadian Food Inspection Agency

     

    contactus@idseed.org

    Last updated
    on 2023-03-27

    © 2024 ISMA - International Seed Morphology Association