Tumbo
Common on sandy tracts in the desertic zone, it is a perennial, tender climbing monoecious plant with 2-3 fid tendrils. Leaves are deeply 3-5 lobed and both male and female flowers are yellow. Fruit globular variegated dark
green with yellowish blotches. When ripe it is filled with a dry spongy very bitter pulp. Seed compressed, pale brown and smooth. Flowering and fruiting throughout the year but maximum in rainy season.
Part used: Fruit and Root
Usage: The fruit is bitter, pungent, cooling, purgative, antipyretic, anthelmintic and used for gaseous problem. In large doses it is toxic. 2-3 drops of root extract in the ear cures earache. Root powder is effective in jaundice, urinary diseases and rheumatism. Root extract is an antidote to scorpion bite. The commercial drug “colocynth” from dry pulp of fruit is cathartic. The inhalation of smoke of fruit kills the germs found in tooth. Poultice of fruit is applied on tumour and boils.
Agrotechniques : Sandy soil is suitable for cultivation. Sowing of seed should be done after first rain of June I July. Plants should be transplanted after one month of sowing. The distance amongst plants is kept I m and row to row 5 m. It is rainfed crop which should be weeded regularly. Crop matures after 90-150 days. After 20-25 days of harvesting, seeds should be separated from fruits.
