Lagenaria siceraria (Bottle Gourd)
- Shanti Bants
- Dec 31, 2024
- 3 min read
Lagenaria siceraria is a versatile edible, medicinal and support species that is most well known for the ripened fruit that makes excellent bowls and musical instruments, but should also be considered for it's high iron, healthy lipid content and medicinal properties.
With a climbing/prostate habit it is best grown alongside large canopy trees that can support the weight of the bottle gourds fruit.
Varieties
Lagenaria siceraria f. depressa
Lagenaria siceraria f. siceraria
Lagenaria siceraria siceraria
Lagenaria siceraria var. depressa
Lagenaria siceraria var. hispida
Lagenaria siceraria var. microcarpa
Environment
Origin: Unknown
Distribution: Global
Protected Areas:
Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania
Mburucuyá National Park, Corrientes, Argentina
Identification
Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Cucurbitales > Cucurbitaceae > Lagenaria > Lagenaria siceraria
Height: 6 - 9 m (19 - 30 ft)
Width: 3 - 4 m (9 - 13 ft)
Foliage Type: Evergreen
Habit: Prostate/Climbing
Bark Type: Soft Wooded
Leaf: Leaves are simple, soft and hairy, up to 40cm long and 40cm broad.
Flower: white flowers, typically night-blooming and open at dusk. They are stalked, with female flower stalks shorter than male. The flowers have five petals, often cream or white with darker veins and a pale yellow base
Flower Type: Monoecious
Pollinator: Insects, Lepidoptera
Flower Time: Feb - Mar (SH) | Aug - Sep (NH)
Fruit: Pepo, can be indehiscent (soft-shelled) or hard-shelled
Fruit Time: Dec - Mar (SH)| Jun - Sep (NH)
Cultivation
Growth Type: Annual
Climate: warm temperate, subtropical, tropical
Natural Soil: Moist, well drained sandy, clay or loam soil pH 6 - 8
Aspect: Full sun
Propagation: Hawk-moth, bees and various other insects
Pruning: The first vine that grows will generally have mostly male flowers, but you can make it produce more female flowers ( thus making more gourds ) by cutting the ends of the vine back.
Fertilising: Gourds are heavy feeders. Prior to planting, add manure or compost to the soil. Once the gourds are established, adding fertilizer may not be necessary but for those gardeners who wish to do so, fertilize with a water-soluble, low-nitrogen fertilizer, such as 5-10-5. High-nitrogen fertilizers encourage leafy growth.
Attracts: birds, insects
Pest and Disease: Anadevidia peponis, Anastrepha grandis, Cosmosoma auge, Phenacoccus solenopsis (solenopsis mealybug), Sphenarches anisodactylus (Geranium Plume Moth), Sphenarches caffer
Harvest
Edible Parts: fruit, leaves, young shoots, seed
Edible Uses:
Immature fruit - cooked or dried.
Leaves and young shoots - cooked and used as a potherb.
Seed - cooked. Rich in oil, it is added to soups as a thickening agent.
A vegetable curd, similar to tofu, can be made from the seed.
An edible oil is made from the seed, used for cooking.
Medicinal Parts:
Medicinal Uses: leaves, stem bark, flower, fruit, seed
A poultice of the crushed leaves has been applied to the head to treat headaches.
The flowers are an antidote to poison.
The stem bark and the rind of the fruit are diuretic.
The fruit is antilithic, diuretic, emetic and refrigerant. The juice of the fruit is used in the treatment of stomach acidity, indigestion and ulcers. The seed is vermifuge.
The pulp around the seed is emetic and purgative. A poultice of the boiled seeds has been used in the treatment of boils.
Taken with Achyranthes spp the seed is used to treat aching teeth, gums, and boils.
Support Uses:The shell of well-ripened fruits is very hard and can be used for many purposes such as bottles, bowls, musical instruments etc.
Warnings: The pulp around the seed is purgative and should not be eaten
Allergen Potential: Unknown
Chemical Constituents
Amino acids: isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, cysteine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, threonine, valine, alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, proline, serine
Nutritional Information
Moisture - 17.5 ± 0.21a
Ash content - 5.80 ± 0.83a
Crude protein - 19.25 ± 1.01b
Crude lipid - 33.83 ± 1.26b
Crude fibre - 31.2 ± 0.76b
Carbohydrate - 9.92 ± 0.70
Energy value (kcal/100g) - 416.39
Minerals present: Potassium, Sodium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Chromium, Cobalt
*minerals vary depending on growing soil and environment.
References
Hassan, L., Sani, N., Dangoggo, S., and Ladan M. (2006). Nutritional value of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) seeds. Global Journal of pure and Applied Sciences. Vol 14, No. 3, 2008: 301 - 306.
Plants For A Future contributors (2024). Lagenaria siceraria - (Molina.)Standl. Plants For A Future. https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Lagenaria+siceraria
Unknown. (2023). Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd) World Species. Retrieved from https://worldspecies.org/ntaxa/851043
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