Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Colocynth (Citrullus colocynthis), of the Cucurbitaceae family. A trailing desert vine with deeply cut leaves and tendrils, bearing a smooth round gourd; native range: the deserts and dry wastes of North Africa, Arabia, the Near East and northwest India. Globally recognized as indravaruni · mahaindravaruni · gavakshi in Sanskrit, indrayan in Hindi, hanzal (حنظل) in Arabic, and bitter apple, bitter cucumber, bitter gourd in English. The part used is the dried pulp of the ripe fruit (and the root). A green-and-yellow mottled gourd the size of an orange, drying to a light, spongy white pith of appalling, lingering bitterness.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
COLOCYNTH
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- colocynth
- Scientific name
- Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad.
- Family
- Cucurbitaceae
Form
- Part used
- the dried pulp of the ripe fruit (and the root)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- bitter (tikta) · pungent (katu)
- Western
- bitter · acrid
- Unani
- bitter · acrid
Temperature
Ayurveda: heating (ushna)
Western: hot
Unani: hot (& dry, 3rd degree)
convergence: the {witness_count} witnesses agree on a fierce, hot, drying nature
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- bowels · intestines · liver
- Unani
- intestines · stomach · liver · brain
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- tikshna virechana (drastic purgative), kaphahara, krimighna (anthelmintic), and in minute dose a bitter digestive; used externally on the joints
- Western
- drastic hydragogue cathartic and cholagogue, anthelmintic, and (externally) a counter-irritant
- Unani
- mushil-e-balgham-o-sauda (strong purge of phlegm and black bile), qatil-ud-dud (vermicide), muhallil, and dafay-e-falij (used in paralysis)
Cautions
Contraindications: pregnancy (abortifacient), piles and bleeding, inflamed or ulcerated bowel, and debility; never in heat states or without correction
Toxicity: a violent irritant poison in overdose — bloody purging, cramping, kidney irritation and collapse; even the powder irritates skin and eyes
Interactions
- Western
- cardiac glycosides: potassium loss from drastic purgation potentiates glycoside toxicity · diuretics: additive potassium and fluid loss
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