The Cucurbitaceae family vegetables include the common cucumber that most people are familiar with from supermarkets. However, melons are also part of this family. Both cucumbers and melons are medicinal in nature, and this relates to the phytochemicals they contain. The major phytochemicals present in the plants as a whole include terpenoids, saponins, tannins, phytosterols and carotenoids. Not all of the medicinally important phytochemicals in Cucurbitaceae family plants are present in the recognisable fruits. Some are present in other parts of the plants. For example, The leaves, seeds and bark of the plant Momordica Balsamina of cucurbitaceae family contain cardiac glycosides which have beneficial medicinal effects on the heart. These are similar to the cardiac glycosides found in foxgloves (Digitalis). Vicine is a phytochemical isolated from Momordica Charantia (Bitter gourd) seeds that has been found to have insulin mimetic effect which makes it of high medicinal value as an anti-diabetic agent.
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