DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANOLEPTIC EVALUATION OF VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS OF BOTTLE GOURD

Abstract

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) is one of the
important vegetable crops which belong to family the
Cucurbitaceae. Bottle gourd has its origin in India
and Africa and is cultivated all over the world. It has
high medicinal value and hence used in some
Ayurvedic medicines. It is widely used as folkloric
remedies in indigestion, constipation, liver
complications and urinary disorders (Rahman 2003).
It is also used as diuretic, cardiotonic, cardioprotective
and nutritive agent (Hassanpour et al., 2008). L.
siceraria fruits are reported to contain more soluble
dietary fibers (SDF) than insoluble cellulose fibers
(ICF) and SDF has profound effect in lowering
cholesterol (Rahman, 2003). Bottle gourd is
commonly used as a tropical vegetable and is also a
good source of vitamin C. The vegetable has been
widely used by the cardiac patients probably due to
its radical scavenging activity. Cardiovascular
diseases (CVD) are the leading causes of deaths and
disability worldwide (Mendis et al., 2011). In most of
the developed countries, hypercholesterolemia and
atherosclerosis lead to cardiac illness and ultimately
death. Cardiovascular disorder is claimed to be
relieved by regular intake of bottle gourd juice for about
4-6 months. Fresh juice of bottle gourd along with
juice of fresh leaves of basil, mint and black pepper
and rock salt is recommended to the patients of
coronary atherosclerosis (Kothari, 2005). It is not
only low cost food but also available round the year
and is widely grown in many parts of our country.