Colocinth

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Colocinth
Colocynth (Citrullus colocynthis)

Colocynth ( Citrullus colocynthis )

Systematics
Rosids
Eurosiden I
Order : Pumpkin-like (Cucurbitales)
Family : Pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae)
Genre : Citrullus
Type : Colocinth
Scientific name
Citrullus colocynthis
( L. ) Schrad.

The colocynth ( Citrullus colocynthis ), also Pomaquinte, Alhandal (of arabic al-HANZAL , الحنظل) Koloquintenkürbis, bitter gourd, Purgiergurke apple or devil, is a toxic plant of the gourd family ( Cucurbitaceae ).

features

The colocynth is a perennial , herbaceous plant with tubers . It grows prostrate or climbing, becomes up to ten centimeters high and can grow over a diameter of two meters. The leaves are stalked and three to nine inches long and just as wide. They are palmately lobed three to five times and have a heart-shaped leaf base. The blade is hairy on both sides. The tendrils are simple or branched.

The flowers are usually in leaf axils individually. They are mostly yellow. The ovary contains 20 to 50 ovules . The simple stylus has a three-lobed scar . Flowering time in the Mediterranean area is May to September.

The fruit is a fleshy, green, white or yellow armored berry 25 to 70 (rarely 120) millimeters long and 25 to 80 (rarely 120) millimeters wide.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22.

In 2012, the coloquin was named Medicinal Plant of the Year in Germany.

  • Habitus

  • blossom

  • Beginning of fruit set

  • fruit

  • ripe fruit

distribution

The natural range of the Coloquin is North Africa and Southwest Asia. However, it has become feral and naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas such as Australia, southern Europe, India, and central Africa. Here they grow mainly in disturbed vegetation, on river banks, river valleys, on roadsides etc. The colocinth grows up to 1200 meters above sea level.

Colocynth ( Citrullus colocynthis )
Colocynth ( Citrullus colocynthis )

use

The colocinth was and is cultivated as a medicinal plant, especially in the Mediterranean region, in Africa and India. The dried pulp of unripe, but fully grown fruits is used. The areas of application in folk medicine include ulcers , asthma , bronchitis , jaundice , dyspepsia , constipation , anemia , but also tumors , dropsy , problems with urination , rheumatism and snakebites . The plant, cultivated since the Assyrian period, was also used to control rodents in ancient Rome. The medical use is already described in the Ebers papyrus (1600 BC). Use is described in particular for diseases of the abdomen (Section 2). Solomon had cast images of the (most likely) colocinth attached as decoration on the edge around the sea ​​of bronze (cf. in the Bible 1 Kings 7 : 23-24  ELB ). In addition, the non-bitter seeds are eaten and in Africa the oil made from them is used for cooking. Colocinten pulp was also considered suitable for treating leprosy.

The undesirable effects of colocinte were known early on and were clearly described in the 16th century by the Worms city doctor Philipp Begardi: "Coloquint is a bad doctor, ultimately the stomach and the liver, grieves the other inner gliders too, tears the veins, scrapes the daerm, brings the krimmen, the bluot flow, and laem in glidern ”.

Active ingredients

The effect of the coloquin is based on its content of cucurbitacins , triterpenes with a bitter taste, which is up to three percent. The cucurbitacins, in this plant B, E and J, are in free and in glycosidic form. The effect is based on the free cucurbitacins. The content in the pulp is 0.22%, in the seeds 0.18%, in the stem 0.17% and in the leaves 0.15%.

Symptoms

Ingestion can lead to irritation of the mucous membranes in the gastrointestinal tract and bloody diarrhea. Kidney damage and an abortive effect are possible. The cucurbitacins have a cytotoxic and antimitotic effect . The active ingredients pass into urine and breast milk and can lead to an abortion in pregnant women. Further symptoms of poisoning are ulcers , wall perforations, peritonitis , bleeding of the kidneys and inflammation of the urinary bladder mucosa. Often there are hyperemia in the brain, delirium and collapse. Death occurs as a result of respiratory failure. In homeopathy, the plant is used for diarrhea, intestinal catarrh and chronic intestinal catarrh. Mixing up the colocinth with watermelons or zucchini sometimes led to poisoning. Poisoning was also observed in animals that ate the fruit. Ingestion of 3 g of C. colocynthis is fatal. Blistering can occur after skin exposure to the active ingredients.

pharmacology

The cucurbitacins inhibit mitotic cell division and therefore have a cytotoxic effect .

First aid and clinical therapy

As first aid , activated charcoal and sodium sulphate are given, followed by a large amount of fluids. In the clinic, gastric lavage is usually carried out after an overdose, for example with 0.1% potassium permanganate solution.

Common names

For the Koloquinte (from Latin coloquintida from Greek kolokynté : term for a round pumpkin) there are or were also the other German-language trivial names : Alexandrienappel, Apfel von Alexandria ( Middle High German ), Appel von Alexandern, Appel von Alexandrien, Bitterapfel, Wildin Churbez ( Old High German ), Wilder Kürbis, Colocynth, Coloquinte, Koloquintengurke, Wild Corbs (Middle High German, Middle Low German ), Curbiz (Middle High German, Middle Low German), Corbicz (Middle High German, Middle Low German ), Korbs (Middle High German, Middle Low German), Eliasbsapfel (Middle High German, Pitter) (Middle High German), Kürbis (Middle High German), Morapfel, Quintappel (Middle Low German, Dutch), Wilkirbes (Middle High German), Wiltkorb (Middle High German) and Windapfel.

reception

The biblical story of death in the pot ( 2 Kings 4,38–41  LUT ) is about a deadly colocinth dish, which the prophet Elisha miraculously gives edibility. This is how Martin Luther translates , including the Vulgate term colocyntida : the student of the prophets "found wild buttercups / and las dauon Colochinten his dress and when he came / it snows into the pot with vegetables ..."

literature

  • P. Galán Cela: Citrullus. In: Santiago Castroviejo Bolibar and others: Flora iberica. Plantas vasculares de la Península Ibérica e Islas Baleares. Vol. III - Plumbaginaceae (partim) - Capparaceae. Real Jardín Botánico Madrid 2005, ISBN 84-00-06221-3 , pp. 459-461. (Characteristics, distribution)
  • Amanda Spooner, James Carpenter, Gillian Smith, Kim Spence: Citrullus colocynthis In: Florabase - the Western Australian Flora , accessed April 17, 2008. (Characteristics, distribution)
  • RW Robinson, DS Decker-Walters: Cucurbits . CAB International, Wallingford 1997, ISBN 0-85199-133-5 , p. 88. (non-medical use)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Citrullus colocynthis at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  2. ^ NM Nayar, Rajendra Singh: Taxonomy, distribution and ethnobotanical uses. In: NM Nayar, TA More: Cucurbits. Science Publishers, Enfield 1998, ISBN 1-57808-003-7 , pp. 1-18.
  3. ↑ J. Guha, SP Sen: Physiology, biochemistry and medicinal importance. In: NM Nayar, TA More: Cucurbits. Science Publishers, Enfield 1998, ISBN 1-57808-003-7 , pp. 97-127.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wink, Michael; Ben-Erik van Wyk; Coralie Wink, Handbook of poisonous and psychoactive plants, Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8047-2425-9 .
  5. ↑ Gerhard Roßbach and Peter Proff: Cassius-Felix-Interpretations: Parts I and II. Würzburg 1991 (= Würzburg medical-historical research , 37), p. 148
  6. ↑ Philip Begardi: Index Sanitatits. Eyn schoens und vast useful Buechlin, called Zeyger der Gesuntheyt ... , Worms 1539, sheet XLI
  7. ↑ Entire paragraph after: L. Roth, M. Daunderer, K. Kormann: Poison Plants, Plant Poisons. 4th edition. ecomed, Landsberg 1994, p. 235 f. (Reprint, ISBN 3-933203-31-7 ).
  8. ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. Birkhäuser, Basel / Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-7643-0755-2 , p. 120.
  9. ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover 1882, page 102. ( online ).
  10. ↑ Heinrich Marzell : Dictionary of German plant names. I – V, Leipzig ... (1937–1979), Volume I, p. 1028
  11. ↑ The Septuagint equivalent " Τολύπη " = pumpkin plant is also rendered in Greek with " κολοκύνθη ".
  12. ↑ Vers 39b in the Biblia Deudsch 1545; Martin Luther: The whole holy scripture German . Ed .: Hans Volz. tape 1 . Rogner & Bernhard, Munich 1972, ISBN 3-920802-83-7 , p. 690 .

Web links

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