Coccinia indica Wight and Arn (CI) is a plant belonging to Cucurbitaceae
family. Most of the plant parts of CI are used in traditional system of medicine in India. CI
has been demonstrated to exhibit several pharmacological properties including antidiabetic,
antioxidant, antimirobial, antidyslipidemic, anthelmintic, antiinflammatory, analgesic
antipyretic, hepatoprotective, ovicidal, wound healing, antitussive, anticancer and
antilithiatic activities.The health benefits of CIare mainly attributed to the various phytoconstituents
such as cryptoxanthin, cucurbitacin, taraxerone, lupeol, taraxerol, xyloglucan,
sitosterol, heptacosane, beta amyrin and beta amyrin acetate. This chapter discusses the
pharmacological and phytochemical properties of this plant.
Keywords: Coccinia indica, pharmacology, phytochemistry.
