Page 74 - Pharmacognosy 2 PG303

Pharmacognosy-2 (PG303) Level 2 Clinical Pharmacy-Pharm D

2- Fructus Colocynthis (Colocynth Fruit)

Syn.: Colocynthis, Colocynthidis Pulpi, Colocynth pulp, Bitter apple,
llandthal.

Colocynth is the dried unripe but fully grown fruits of Citrurllus colocynthis
Linne. Schrad. Fam. Cucurbitaceae, deprived of its seeds and outer hard pericarp.
A Colocynth contains not more than 5% of its seeds and not more than 2% of the
outer sclerenchymatous part of the pericarp.

The drug was well known to the Arabian physicians, Greeks, and Romans.
It is cultivated in Cyprus, Syria, Spain, Morocco, and Egypt.

Macroscopical Characters

Colocynth occurs in light spongy easily broken globular masses or in pieces
of variable size, up to 6 cm long and 2 cm thick. The pieces are white or pale
yellowish, with occasional small patches of darker epicarp and consisting of
narrow mesocarp and three wide bifid placentas Externally, the pieces are convex
with ridges and flattened areas, 5 to 10 mm wide but internally, irregularly concave
and showing numerous ovoid depressions left by the removal of the seeds.
The peeled fruits are from 4 to 7 cm in diameter and show occasional small
patches of imperfectly removed rind. Externally, it is marked by spiral flattish areas
due to the use of a knife for peeling. The transverse section of the fruit shows three

large splits radiating from the center and dividing the fruit into 3 parts, each
containing two groups of seeds, the remaining space filled with pithy parenchyma.
The epicarp, if present has a granular buff colored glabrous outer surface and
a smooth paler inner surface sometimes marked by positions of the seeds.

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