ACIDULEK, BITTER MELON, ASSHOLE
ECBALLIUM ELATERIUM A. RICH
(Cucurbitaceae-fam)
PLACES IT IS FOUND: It is found on roadsides, in sandy places, mostly on the Black Sea coast, and less frequently in other parts of the country.
STRUCTURE: It is a creeping, branched, perennial herbaceous plant with juicy stems covered with rough stiff hairs. The leaves are heart-shaped, toothed, and covered with stiff hairs. The flowers are pale yellow and unisexual. The male flower clusters are unilateral and grape-shaped, the female flowers are individual and are found in the leaf axils. The fruit is elliptical, green, and covered with stiff hairs. The seeds are numerous. It blooms in July-August.
USED PARTS: Fruits are collected at full maturity (September-October). Fruits are dried in the shade or in ovens heated up to 45 degrees. Dried fruits are dark green, odorless and bitter. Humidity ratio is % 13. They are packaged in bags. They are stored in dry and airy places. Some people dry the fruits by stringing them to dry more easily.
KİMYEVİ TERKİBİ:% 2,5 kadar helme (sümüklü madde) , %12 kadar karbonhidrat, saponinler, eterik yağ, a-krosetin, kumarin, b-karotin, flavonoidler, yağlı madde ve asitleri v.s ihtiva eder.
IN WHICH DISEASES IS IT USED: It is used in slimming and pain relieving diseases. Bitter fruits are used in folk medicine for malaria, cholera, neurastony, scarlet fever, jaundice in newborn babies (in small doses), and weight loss.
Externally, the fruits are soaked in strong alcohol at a ratio of 1:20 and rubbed for rheumatism, lumbago, and applied as a poultice to hemorrhoids and purulent wounds (abscesses). The boiled liquid from the root is taken against malaria (it is powdered and snuffed).
ATTENTION! THE PLANT IS POISONOUS!
USAGE: Used internally upon doctor's instructions.
