593 ISSN 0326-2383 KEY WORDS: Anatomy, Cucurbitaceae, Fruits, Momordica tuberosa, Pharmacognosy, Seeds. * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pramod4407@gmail.com Latin American Journal of Pharmacy (formerly Acta Farmacéutica Bonaerense) Lat. Am. J. Pharm. 30 (3): 593-8 (2011) Short communication Received: July 25, 2010 Revised version: August 9, 2010 Accepted: August 12, 2010 Morphoanatomy and Phytochemical Screening of Entire Fruits of Momordica tuberosa Cogn. (Cucurbitaceae) Pramod KUMAR * 1 , Devala RAO G. 2 , B. LAKSHMAYYA 1 & Ramachandra SETTY S. 3 1 Department of Pharmacognosy, V.L. College of Pharmacy, Manik Prabhu Temple Road, Raichur-584103, India 2 KVSR Siddhartha College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vijayawada- 520010, India 3 College of Clinical Pharmacy, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, KSA SUMMARY. Momordica tuberosa (Cucurbitaceae) is traditionally used as abortifacient in India. Mor- phoanatomy, physicochemical and phytochemical nature of fruits and seeds of this plant were studied in order to contribute to complete the profile of these parts to aid in their identification and avoid confusion in taxanomic species. Macroscopic and microscopic characters were established using light microscopy, WHO recommendations and standard physicochemical and phytochemical procedures. Fruits presented the typical characters of Cucurbitaceae plants possessing ridges with 1 mm thickness and pericarp 550 μm thick. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, steroids, triterpenes and alkaloids in various extracts. The findings from morphoanatomy, microscopy and physicochemical characters may be used to establish the authenticity of fruits of this plant. INTRODUCTION The Cucurbitaceae or cucurbit family (also commonly referred to as the cucumber, gourd, melon or pumpkin family) is a medium sized plant family, primarily found in the warmer re- gions of the world and comprises about 119 genera and 825 species 1 . The family is distinct morphologically and biochemically from other families and is therefore considered mono- phyletic. General opinion is that it is closest al- lied phylogenetically with the Begoniaceae in the order Violales 1 . A number of genera are not clearly defined and are in need of modern monographic treatments. The cucurbitaceous plants are either mesophytic or xerophytic, pri- marily tropical or subtropical, frequently con- taining bitter purgative cucurbitacins tetracyclic triterpenoids, bitter-tasting substances 2 . Plants belonging to genera Momordica are generally climbing herbs with oblong, fusiform or cylin- dric, baccate, indehiscent or 3-valvate, few or many seeded fruits 3 . Momordica tuberosa Cogn. belongs to family Cucurbitaceae, originating in tropical regions of India and South East Asia. M. tuberosa (Cucurbitaceae) is commonly known as karchikai (Kannada) or Athalkai (Tamil) and has been traditionally used as abortifacient in India 4 . The plant is a climbing annual or peren- nial herb with slender, scandent, branched, stri- ate stem. The leaves are orbicular-reniform in outline, deeply cordate at the base, obtusely lobed with 5-7 lobes. Fruits are pyrifrom or broadly fusiform, fleshy dark green and 8- ribbed, sparsely hairy. The roots are woody, tuberous and perennial 3 . There are reports sug- gesting its antihyperglycemic 5 , anti-implantation and antiovulatory 6 , antidiarrhoeal 7 and anticon- vulsant activities 8 . In a previous paper 9 we de- scribed the in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activ- ity of the tubers of M. tuberosa which was used as a basis to evaluate its hepatoprotective prop- erty in CCl 4 model. Cucurbitacins, bitter sub- stances, have been reported from the fruits of this plant 10 . Fruits contain citric acid, maleic acid and vitamin C 11 . Despite its therapeutic ac- tivity, there are no studies concerning mor-