bimbi :

Bimb£ consists of the dried leaves of Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt Syn. C. cordifolia Cogn, C.indica W & A, Cephalandra indica Naud. (Fam. Cucurbitaceae), a monoecious perennial climber, distributed all over India and often cultivated.

Taxonomical Classification

Family: Cucurbitaceae

VERNACULAR NAMES

Sanskrit: bimbi, rakta phala, gola, rundi, dontacchadopama , Tundi, Bimbika, Osthopamaphala
English: Ivy gourd
Hindi: Kunduru, Kunru
Urdu: Kunduru
Telugu: Donda tige
Bengali: Tela Kuccha, Bimbu
Marathi: Tondlee
Oriya: Kainchi kakudi, Bano Kundri
Gujarathi: Gholam, Ghilodi, Tindoran, Kadavi Ghilodi
Tamil: Kovai
Malayalam: Koval, Kova, Nallakova
Kannada: Tonde balli
Punjabi: Kunduru, Kunduri

Synonyms

Synonyms in Ayurveda: bimbi, rakta phala, gola, rundi, dontacchadopama , Tundi, Bimbika, Osthopamaphala

Rasa: Kashaya Madhura Tikta
Guna: Laghu
Veerya: Sheetha
Vipaka: Katu
Karma: Kaphapittasamaka

Phytochemistry:

Cephalandrine A, cephalandrine B, cephalandrine, β-sitosterol and triacontane. 

Dosage:

leaf - Svarasa(Juice) : 10 to 20 ml Curna (Powder) : 3 to 6 g

Morphology:

Bulk colour dark green; leaves brittle; simple, alternate, petiolate, exstipulate, 5 to 10 cm. long and 4 to 8 cm in width; lamina variable in size, usually 5 angled with shallow sinuses; bright green above with blackish dots on the surface and paler beneath; palmately reticulate with five main veins, base cordate, apex acute, margin more or less sinuate toothed; surface of the lamina rough. 

Histology:

Midrib -TS of midrib is flat toward adaxial surface and ridged towards abaxial side; epidermal cells of adaxial and abaxial surface brick shaped; hypodermis adjacent to both epidermis collenchymatous; ground tissue of parenchyma containing prismatic calcium oxalate crystals; two vascular bundles present, one towards adaxial and the other towards abaxial surface; adaxial vascular bundle smaller than that of abaxial surface; xylem composed of vessels with annular and spiral thickenings, xylem parenchyma, and fibres; phloem contains sieve tubes with simple sieve plates, companion cells, parenchyma and fibres. Lamina -TS through laminar region shows that the leaf is dorsiventral; cuticle present; epidermal cells of adaxial surface slightly elongated, larger and oval where black dots representing glands present; the epidermal cells of abaxial surface are brick shaped; cuticle present; palisade layer a single row; and absent over midrib region; spongy parenchyma cells chlorenchymatous and wavy walled; xylem contains vessels with annular and spiral thickenings;epidermal cells of both adaxial and abaxial epidermis in surface view are occasionally elongated, walls thin, deeply sinuate; multicellular sessile glandular trichomes with head measuring 100 to 120 µ in diameter are present on adaxial epidermis; covering trichomes measuring 18 to 20 wide and 280 to 300 µ long, gradually tapering are sparsely distributed and are localised at the costal region of the adaxial epidermis; stomata anomocytic ; stomatal index of abaxial epidermis 20 to 25, adaxial surface 16 to 18.

Therapeutic Uses:

 leaf - Kāmalā (Jaundice), Madhumeha (Diabetes mellitus), Puya meha (Dysuria)

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