Calabash

Lagenaria siceraria

Other Names : Lagenaria siceraria, Bottle gourd, Calabash gourd, flowered gourd, white flowered gourd Calabash is related to the pumpkin. But it's not a real pumpkin.
See also :

• Kanpyō
• Lauki juice

Special Precautions of Calabash

Like other members of the family Cucurbitaceae, gourds contain cucurbitacins that are known to be cytotoxic at a high concentration. The tetracyclic triterpenoid cucurbitacins present in fruits and vegetables of the cucumber family are responsible for the bitter taste, and could cause stomach ulcers. In extreme cases, people have died from drinking the juice of gourds.The toxic cases are usually due to the gourd being used to make juice, which the drinkers described as being unusually bitter. In three of the lethal cases, the victims were diabetics in their 50s and 60s.In 2018, a healthy woman in her 40s was hospitalized for severe reactions after consuming the juice and died three days later from complications. The plant is not normally toxic when eaten. The excessively bitter (and toxic) gourds are due to improper storage (temperature swings or high temperature) and over-ripening.

References

• Adhyaru-Majithia, Priya (13 March 2010). "Not all bitter veggies are good, they can kill you: Doctors". DNA. Bhaskar Group. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
• Chandra, Neetu (9 July 2010). "Toxin in lauki kills diabetic city scientist". India Today. Living Media. Archived from the original on 12 July 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
• "Bitter 'lauki' juice can kill you". The Times of India. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on 5 July 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
• Puri, Rajesh; Sud, Randhir; Khaliq, Abdul; Kumar, Mandhir; Jain, Sanjay (September 2011). "Gastrointestinal toxicity due to bitter bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria)─a report of 15 cases". Indian Journal of Gastroenterology. 30 (5): 233–236. doi:10.1007/s12664-011-0110-z. PMID 21986853. S2CID 12653649.
• "Pune woman dies after drinking bottle gourd juice - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.