Coccinia grandis

Ivy Gourd
Bimbi (Ayurveda)
Koovai (Siddha)
Kanduri (Unani)

M. Blanco, Flora de Filipinas. (1875)

Coccinia grandis
(Photo by Eugene van der Pijll) (Wikimedia)

Botanical name:

Coccinia grandis (syn. C. codifolia., C. indica, Cephalandra indica)

Parts used:

Leaf, Stem, Root

Temperature & Taste:

Cool, dry. Sweet, Bitter, Astringent
Green fruit is very Bitter, fresh Fruit is Sweet

Uses:

1. Clears Phlegm, Stops Cough
-Cough, Bronchitis, Asthma (leaf, stem in decoction)
-Catarrh

2. Clears Heat and Toxin:
-Cold, Fever (leaf)
-Food Poisoning (leaf decoction, Thailand)
-Headache
-Enlarged Glands, Internal Abscesses
-Skin diseases including Pityriasis

3. Clears Damp-Heat:
-Urinary Tract infection, Dysuria, Edema
-Dysentery (stem)
-Jaundice (leaf juice)
-Hepatitis (leaf)
-Gonorrhea
-Bilious and Liver diseases

4. Clears Heat, Benefits Yin:
-Diabetes; Polyuria (leaf, root, fruit, juice of leaf or root–Proven effect)
-Metabolic disorder
-Tuberculosis
-Bleeding from heat (stem)
-Anemia
-Leaf decoction is used to promote health by Hill tribes in Thailand

5. Kills Worms:
-used for Worm Infestation

6. Externally:
-leaf paste is applied externally to Cuts and Wounds
-Leprosy, Psoriasis, leaf paste is applied topically
-Ringworm, Scabies, leaf juice is applied topically.
-Small Pox (leaf paste applied topically)
-fresh juice or paste of the leaf is applied to animal bites
-Sores of the mouth and tongue, green fruit is chewed
-leaves boiled in oil are applied to Ringworm, Pruritus, Psoriasis

DRIED BARK:
-Cathartic

Dose:

1. Large doses of the leaf or stem are Emetic.
Root Powder: 3–10 grams twice daily (10 grams for Diabetes)
Leaf: 10 grams (fresh)
Leaf Juice: 10–20 mls
Leaf, Stem or whole plant Powder: 3–6 grams
Root Juice: 1 –3 drams
Powder Bark: 30 grains (as a cathartic)
Tincture (1 in 10): half–1 dram

Comment:

As with Cucumber and other related members of the Gourd family, there is a sweet, edible variety, and a bitter, wild, non-edible variety.
Bitter varieties are used in medicine.

Main Combinations:

1. Diabetes:
i. Coccinia with Bitter Melon
ii. Coccinia with Shilajit
iii. Coccinia with Vangesvara or Somandtha rasa (mineral compounds of Ayurveda)
2. As a male sexual tonic, Coccinia root is combined with Withania, Asparagus root, Mucuna, Tribulus
3. Tumors, Coccinia leaf juice is mixed with seed paste of Sorghum.
4. Contraceptive, Coccinia stem, Oroxylum fresh stem, Tacca laevis fresh root, Lygodium flexuosum leaf paste (equal parts); form tablets of about 5 grams and give every morning on an empty stomach for 7 days beginning 2 days after menstruation.
5. Itching, allergic rashes and rashes from touching poisonous plants, apply a paste of Coccinia leaf with clay-earth.

Major Formulas:

Cautions:

None noted