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Nutrition in a bottle

The nourishing ‘lauki’ has varied uses

Common vegetable Lauki has medicinal properties too

The bottle gourd or Lagenaria siceraria is believed to be a native of Africa, Mexico and Thailand and belongs to the family Evanbibaceae. T is called lauki in Hindi, sorakaya in Telugu, cherakkai in Tamil and Malayalam.

The vine is characterised by a very extensive, ramifying but shallow root system and hollow angular stem with bicollateral bundles. The leaves are large, alternate, single, long-petioled and palmately lobed.

The yellow flowers are large, bisexual and stamens are fused along the length of the column. A quick growing annual, lauki is very common and extensively grown vegetable of trailing habit. The fruit, when half ripe, is used as a goo d vegetable. The skin is whitish green in colour and has a large percentage of water in the white flesh embedded with flat seeds. The fruits vary in size and shape. The common variety is the bottle shaped fruit; the other varieties have globular and long fruits measuring up to two feet.

Laukis grow in any soil but generally preferable in heavily manured sandy loam. Seeds are sown in holes that are at least a foot apart with three to four seeds in each hole. The plant should be watered daily once until a few leaves app ear then water on alternate days and add powdered cow dung and leaf mould and train the vines over supports. Harvest the vegetable when half grown.

Vegetables are used in curries, soups and sweets. High in nutrition, the fresh juice is mixed with salt and lime and given to jaundice patients since it is said to be cooling, diuretic and antibilious.

The fruit is allowed to mature on the vines; it becomes woody and water proof. They are used to make musical instruments, storage for wine and to carry water. Round ones are used by fishermen as floats.

CHITRA RADHAKRISHNAN

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