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ABSTRACT:
Cucumis sativus is plant which is widely grown throughout the world. Cucumber is mainly consumed as raw fruit in various parts of the world. Cucumber plant has various medicinal values which are described in Ayurveda. In Ayurveda it is said to be used for burning sensation, swollen eyes, anuria, dermatitis, burns, skin whitening, emollient, and also as moisturizer. In India-China raw ripe fruit is used in treatment of dysentery in children's. Cucumber plant is also potent anthelmintic. Seed oil is used in treatment of insomnia and frontal headache. Mainly flavonoids, glycosides and tannins are responsible for various activities in plants. This article mainly covers nutritive aspects, traditional uses, various chemical constituents and pharmacology of cucumber.
KEYWORDS: Ayurveda, Cucumber, Cucumis sativus, Cucurbitaceae, Pharmacology.
INTRODUCTION:
Plant are one of the most important source of medicines, large number of drugs are derived from plants, like Atropine from Atropa belladonna, Morphine from Papaver somniferum, Ephedrine from Ephedra vulgaris, Reserpine from Rawolfia serpentine. The medicinal plants are rich in secondary metabolites and essential oils which are also of therapeutic importance. The use of plant as herbal medicines is very old and it was used by Assyrians (4000BC), Sumerians (3500BC), Indians (3500BC), Chinese (3000BC) and Egyptians (2500BC). India is one of the main centres where plants have been used for medicinal purposes, and this has been documented in Rigveda and Ayurveda (4500BC-1600BC). Charaka the famous Indian physician described the use and application of 350 plants in his book "Charak Samnita." [1]The important advantages of using medicinal plants are they are safe along with being economical, effective and their ease of availability.[2] WHO has estimated that 80% of the people rely on traditional medicine for primary health care needs. Of the 119 plants based drugs used today by modern medicines 74% are from plants traditionally used as herbal cures. [1]
Botanical Classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Mangoliophyta
Class: Mangoliopsida
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Cucumis
Species: C. sativus
Other Names
English: Cucumber
Chinese: Huang Gua
Hindi: Kheera
Marathi: Tavsini
Malayalam: Vellari
Sanskrit: Sakusa
Morphology
Cucumis is a genus of twining, tendril bearing plant belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. Cucurmis sativus (C. sativus) commonly called as "Cucumber" is believed to be originated in Asia and it exist as wild cucumbers in...