Sweet gourd (Momordica cochinchinensis)

SWEET GOURD/GAC FRUIT/RED MELON
• Momordica cochinchinensis
• Cucurbitaceae
Submitted by
S.ADHIYAMAAN (2017603401)
I-M.Sc.VEGETABLE SCIENCE
DEPT. OF VEGETABLE CROPS
HC & RI, TNAU, CBE.- 641 003

Origin - Southeast Asia
• Distribution
Southeast Asian fruit mainly found throughout the region
from Southern China to Northeastern Australia,
including Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam

Botany
• Dioecious, perennial climber.2n=28
• Stem glabrous,leaves sub-orbicular, 5 lobed flower white or pale
yellow black at base inside
• Male flower: peduncle 5-30cm long,sub-arbicular,s sessile bract3-4cm
• Female flower: smaller bracts
• Fruits ovoid,10-15 cm long,pointed densely aculeate turning red at
maturity.
• seed ovoid 26-28mm long,compressed,sculptured

Accession
no.
Total
carotenoids
(µg/g)
ß-carotene
(µg/g)
% of
ß-carotene
to Total
carotenoids
(%)
IC 553689 810 139.60 16.7
IC 553690 832 141.17 16.9
IC 553691 716 133.28 18.5
Carotenoids content of Indian accessions sweet gourd
• Sweet gourd aril also contain 22% fatty acids by weight which are essential for
absorption and transport of β carotene
• Oil extracted from aril also showed 2710 µg β carotene and also included high levels of
vitamin E
• It has β carotene and lycopene at high levels

• High Nutritional value
• Tender fruits& younger leaves edible
• High protein,Vit-C &Vit-A
• Seeds treat swelling, abscesses, ulcer
• Tuber hemolytic fraction
• Fruits /leaves external application for lumbago,ulceration &
fracture of bone
• Roots-triterpenoid –saponin, sterol(bessisterol)
• Fresh root- bisdesmoside
• Dry root - monodesmoside

β carotene (µg/g) Lycopene (µg/g)

Health Benefits of Gac
1- Gac fruit combats cancer
2- It fights anemia
3- It helps lower cholesterol levels
4- Gac fruit prevents cardiovascular diseases
5- It improves eyesight
6- It combats depression
7- Gac fruit maintains youth and prevents aging

Anthesis
• Male flr bud: 22-24 days to full bloom
• Anthesis dehiscence : 6.20 am /6.50 male
• Female Flr: 19-22 days to bloom @ 5.50 AM
• Stigma receptivity:18h before and after anthesis (12h b/a peak)
• Pollen viability 36 hrs
• Flowering node: 9-28, 1-13, and 1 on primary, secondary and tertiary respectively
• Sex ratio :1:1
• Last week Aug- Ist week of sep peak flowering respectively
• Planting to flowering: 39 and 43 days for male and female respectively
• Bud break: 36&33 min female and male
• Anthesi between 06.30h and 08.00 to09.00h
• Fruit set: 14.72% and its highest at 22.89% in mid August

• Warm humid climate
• 25-35◦c 1500-2500mmRF,
• during winter dormant,spring sprout
• Sandy loam pH 6.5-7.0
• Planting: Feb- Mar Irrigated condition and June-July
for rainy season
• Basin : (45 X 45) cm, 45-50 days old seedlings
• NPK: 100-120: 60: 50kg/ha +10-12 t FYM
Cultivation

Propagation
• Seed,Tubers & cutting
• Seed: 3-5 kg, longer period (3-5 years, low germination (50%),48.7%
female and 51.3% male
• Tubers: 50,000 sprouted tubers/ha, selected from 2-3 year old plants,25-
30g wt, 2 bud /each piece but 40g piece is the best
• Stem cuttings: 2 nodes/cutting,treat 200-500ppm IBA,July-Aug, when
4-5 leaves –main field

Traditionally used for wound healing, to improve eye health and to
promote normal growth in children. The seeds have resolvent and
cooling properties, are used for treating liver and spleen disorders, chest
complaints, abdominal pains and dysentery, wounds, hemorrhoids,
swelling, and pus.
Sweet gourd products
1. Xoi gac (Glutinous rice + sweet gourd aril)
2. Gac capsule
3. Gac oil
4. Gac powder
5. Health drink (Gac juice blended with
Rosa roxburgii and Lycium barbarum)
Xoi gac

Distinguishing characters in perennial dioecious Momordica spp.
Character Spine gourd Teasle gourd Sweet gourd
Anthesis Evening
(6-7 pm)
Morning
(4-6 am)
Morning
(7-8 am)
Individual fruit
weight
5-20 g 60-100 g 500-900 g
Glands in petiole Absent Absent Present
Bulls eye nectar
guides at the base
of the petal
Absent Present Present
Flowering very late, i.e. 90–100 days after planting.
Usually anthesis takes place in the early morning hours

Leaf of M. cochinchinensis with umbilical glands

Flowers of dioecious Momordica
(a) M. dioica,
(b) M. cochinchinensis
(c) M. subangulata subsp. renigera
(Bharathi et al., 2011)

(a) M. dioica
(b) M. subangulata subsp. renigera
(c) M. cochinchinensis
Seeds of dioecious Momordica

Fruits of perennial dioecious Momordica species (from left to right):
1. M. cochinchinensis; 2. M. subangulata subsp. renigera; 3. M. dioica

Fruit, seed and leaf morphology of
M. cochinchinensis
A–C Spike density of fruits categorized as dense
(A), medium (B) and sparse (C).
D. Fruit shapes categorized as round (globose),
globose-oval (centre) or tapered (right).
E. Colour and size variations of mature seeds
categorized as black- large (left), dark brown- large
(centre), light brown- small (right).
F–G. Leaf differences between five (F) and three
lobes (G).
Diversity of M. cochinchinenesis
in Vietnam & Thailand
(Wimalasiri et al., 2016)

Breeding Objectives
• Yield
• Quality
• Earliness
• Pest and disease resistance: Development of varieties resistant to diseases -
Fusarium wilt, anthracnose, powdery mildew, downy mildew, and
Insect pests- root knot nematode, red pumpkin beetle, ladybird beetle, fruit fly
and fruit borer.
• Stress resistance: Environmental factors like high and low temperature, drought,
excessive moisture, salinity, alkalinity, etc.

Inter-specific hybridization
• Reports of inter-specific hybridisation between M. dioica and M.
cochinchinensis (Mohanty et al. 1994; Mondal et al. 2006),
• M. charantia and M. dioica (Roy et al. 1966; Dutt and Pandey 1983;
Vahab and Peter 1983; Anon. 2004),
• M. balsamina and M. dioica (Roy et al. 1966) and among the species
of Indian occurrence (Bharathi et al. 2012).

However, the
• poor germination of F1 seeds,
• unsatisfactory growth and flowering in F1 seedlings, and
• partial to complete sterility in F1 indicate the rather limited potential
of interspecific hybrids from these species in conventional crop
improvement.
• In many cases, this sterility was associated with meiotic abnormalities.

Propagation and cultivation of Gac fruit
• The plant can be cultivated from seeds or root tubers, and grows as dioecious
vines (separate male and female plants).
• Rooted vine cuttings can also be used for propagation and are more reliable
than production from seeds, which can be affected by dormancy and a long
lead time into production.

Variety: Teasel Gourd
Arka Neelachal Gaurav
• Developed through clonal selection at CHES, Bhubaneswar.
• Plants vigorous with dark-green foliage, strong vine and fairly long growing period (15 June–15
October).
• Dark-green and oval fruits along with small spines.
• Fruits 6.0 cm long, 3.8 cm thick.
• Average weight 50 g.
• Plant produces 230–250 fruits in full cropping season with assured pollination.
• Needs hand pollination for assured yield (12-15 kg/ plant per season).
• Produces large numbers of female flowers.
• Shows moderate resistance to pumpkin caterpillar infestation, and moderate susceptibility to
anthracnose and downy mildew diseases in the field.

Yield
• 10-12 days after anthesis to harvest the fruits
• 1.5-1.8 ton/ha (3-5kg/plant)
• Preservation: slice it, blanch 1kg slice in 3 l of lactic acid (pH3,5),
4mints ,82◦c
• Slice-dried in sun- kept in closed containers

• Genetic resources & Improvement
• ICAR Research complex for NEH Barapani,
• IIVR Varanasi : 20 genotypes
• Acc from Assam reveals that C-8 & C20 early var & yield potential

• Handique 1988: In sweet gourd and teasel gourd the young and developing seed coat is whitish, soft
and delicate but subsequently it turns ash coloured to black and hard, which is a major drawback.
Development of parthenocarpic fruit will greatly enhance its food value and consumer acceptability.
• Treatment with α-NAA 100 ppm induced parthenocarpic development up to 95 % in teasel gourd.
Sanwal et al. (2011):
• Application of 500 mg/l AgNO3 on female plants produced the maximum proportion of induced
hermaphrodite flowers in M. cochinchinensis and the pollen viability was similar to that of normal
male plant.
Use of PGRs for sex alteration

1. Bhat KL. 2001. Minor Vegetables - Untapped Potential. Kalyani.
2. lndira P & Peter KV. 1984. Unexploited Tropical Vegetables. Kerala Agricultural
University,Kerala.
3. Peter KV. (Ed.). 2007-08. Underutilized and Underexploited Horticultural Crops.
Vols. I-IV. New India Publ. Agency.
4. Rubatzky VE & Yamaguchi M. (Eds.). 1997. World Vegetables: Principles,
Production and Nutritive Values. Chapman & Hall.
5. Srivastava U, Mahajan RK, Gangopadyay KK, Singh M & Dhillon BS. 2001.
Minimal Descriptors of Agri-Horticultural Crops. Part-II: Vegetable Crops. NBPGR,
New Delhi.
6.https://www.echocommunity.org/en/.
References

Research articles
• 2.in vitro.pptx

Momordica Cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng.
(Cucurbitaceae) in Culture In Vitro.
Valeriy К. Tokhtar1*, Zhang Doang2, Liudmila А. Tokhtar1, Oleg I. Korotkov 3, and
Galina I. Safronova4.
1 Belgorod State University, Pobedy St. 85, Russia, Belgorod, 308015.
2 Hanoi University, Km 9 Nguyen Trai - Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Vietnam
3 Nikitskiy Botanical Garden, Nikita settlement, Republic of Crimea, Yalta, Russia 298648,
4 Volgograd Regional Botanical Garden, Metallurgov settlement, 68, Volgograd, Russia 400007

INTRODUCTION
• Sweet gourd edible parts: leaves, fruits, caules and seeds
• Folk medicine - hypoglycemic effect (harantin, insulin-like peptides
and alkaloids)
• Valuable oil from the seeds (rich for α-eleostearic acid)
• Problem of low germination capacity (a very strong woody seed
coat)

MATERIALS AND METHODS
• Two types of primary explants:
1.The seeds with dense seed coat (with damage of the coat in micropyle
zone) – Liquid medium
2.The seeds without seed coat. –Solid medium
Sterilization of explants: the seeds, soaked in 96% ethanol solution, were
burned in a flame of alcohol burner for not more than a minute, and then they
were sterilized in lysoformin solutions of different concentrations:
10% (7 min.), 10% (10 min.), 7% (10 min.), 7% (15 min.)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of sterilization of Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng explants.
• On the thirteenth day of cultivation, the cotyledons opened.
• Sixteen days of cultivation, intensive root formation
• 47th day- transplanting to main field

Sweet gourd (Momordica cochinchinensis)

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