Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Unani
Loofah (Luffa cylindrica), of the Cucurbitaceae family. Large climbing annual vine with tendrils, broad lobed leaves and yellow flowers, bearing a long cylindrical fruit; native range: Of Old-World tropical origin (probably South and Southeast Asia); cultivated across the warm world for its edible young fruit and its fibrous mature sponge. Globally recognized as dhamargava / koshataki / kritavedhana in Sanskrit, torai / ghia-tori / jhinga in Hindi, si gua luo (丝瓜络) in Chinese, lif (ليف) in Arabic, and sponge gourd, dishcloth gourd, vegetable sponge, rag gourd in English. The part used is the dried fibrous vascular skeleton (retinet) of the mature fruit — si gua luo; also the young fruit, seed and juice. The young fruit is green, mild and faintly sweet as a vegetable; the mature fruit, dried and de-skinned, yields a pale, light, springy net of interlacing fibres, odourless and dry.
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.
LOOFAH
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Loofah
- Scientific name
- Luffa cylindrica (L.) M.Roem.
- Family
- Cucurbitaceae
Form
- Part used
- the dried fibrous vascular skeleton (retinet) of the mature fruit — si gua luo; also the young fruit, seed and juice
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet
- Ayurveda
- bitter (tikta) — of the medicinal bitter type
- Unani
- sweet · bland
Temperature
TCM: neutral (leaning cool)
Ayurveda: cooling (sheeta)
Unani: cold & moist (2nd degree)
convergence: all {witness_count} witnesses place it on the cool side — none reckons it warming
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Stomach · Liver
- Unani
- liver · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- unblocks the channels and collaterals (tong luo), quickens the blood, dispels wind-damp, clears heat and resolves phlegm, and reduces swelling
- Ayurveda
- the bitter type is vamaka (emetic) and virechaka (drastic purgative), pitta-kapha-hara, krimighna and useful in kamala (jaundice) and skin disease
- Unani
- mubarrid (refrigerant), muhallil (resolvent) and musakkin; the bitter type mus-hil (purgative), turned against bilious heat
Cautions
- Contraindications
- the bitter Luffa is a drastic emetic-purgative — avoid in weakness, dehydration and pregnancy, and never in overdose; si gua luo is used with care in cold and deficiency without true stagnation
- Toxicity
- the bitter type carries cucurbitacins and the seed the toxic protein luffin (a ribosome-inactivating lectin), causing violent vomiting, purging and dehydration; overdose is dangerous — the mild fibre (si gua luo) is by contrast benign
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.