Botanical species · safety record

Luffa cylindrica

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 10 constituent measurements and 4 adverse-effect records for Luffa cylindrica. This page reports what those source records contain and how to reach them. It carries no effect estimate, no dose and no recommendation.

Accepted name in source: Luffa cylindrica (L.) M.Roem.

10Constituent measurements

4Safety records

6Cited sources

3Licensed products (Canada)

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 3 licensed products naming Luffa cylindrica as a medicinal ingredient, matched on the exact Latin binomial. A licence records that a product met the regulator's requirements for sale in Canada. It is not evidence that the product works.

Source material stated

Fruit
Sponge

What the records describe

Constituents measured

Plant parts

Preparations

Effect types

Target tissues

Recorded constituents

What analytical work has found in this species, at which plant part and preparation. A measured constituent is a fact about material, not about effect.

Substance	Plant part	Preparation	Concentration	Analytical method	Source
Cardiac glycosides	Fruit unspecified	Solvent extraction	—	Standard Chromatographic tests (paper- thin layer- and column chromatography)	No resolvable identifier
Lectins	Seed	Solvent extraction	3 Unit	—	No resolvable identifier
Pentacyclic triterpene saponins	Fruit unspecified	Solvent extraction	—	Standard Chromatographic tests (paper- thin layer- and column chromatography)	No resolvable identifier
Phytic acid	Seed	Solvent extraction	5.16 Milligram/gram	—	No resolvable identifier
Saponins	Aerial part of plants	—	—	—	No resolvable identifier
Saponins	Fruit unspecified	—	—	—	No resolvable identifier
Saponins	Seed	Solvent extraction	0.11 Gram/100 gram	—	No resolvable identifier
Saponins	Leaves	—	10.93 Unit	Hemoglobin electrophoresis	No resolvable identifier
Tannins	Fruit unspecified	Solvent extraction	—	Standard Chromatographic tests (paper- thin layer- and column chromatography)	No resolvable identifier
Tannins	Leaves	—	6.51 Percent	Traditional analytical techniques (wet chemical tests)	No resolvable identifier

Recorded adverse effects

Adverse effects reported in the source literature, most often in animal or laboratory models at a stated preparation and dose.

Effect	Target tissue	Plant part	Preparation	Test organism	Test type	Source
Digestive	Digestive	Seed	Solvent extraction	—	In vitro	No resolvable identifier
Digestive	Digestive	Seed	Solvent extraction	—	In vitro	No resolvable identifier
Pulmonary and cardiac	Lung	Unspecified	Solvent extraction	Cat (as animal)	Acute toxicity	No resolvable identifier
Reproductive	Urogenital	Seed	Solvent extraction	House mouse (as animal)	Reproduction toxicity	No resolvable identifier

Cited sources

The literature the compendium cites for this species. Metatron Health has no relationship with these authors or journals and earns nothing from citing them.

Elemo, Gloria N., Elemo, Babajide O., Erukainure, Ochuko L. Activities of some enzymes, enzyme inhibitors and antinutritional factors from the seeds of sponge gourd (Luffa aegyptiaca M.). African journal of biochemistry research, 2011, p. 86-89.
Ng, T. B., Wong, Ricky N. S., Yeung, H. W. Two proteins with ribosome-inactivating, cytotoxic and abortifacient activities from seeds of Luffa cylindrica Roem (Cucurbitaceae). Biochemistry international, 1992, p. 197-207.
de la Torre, Martin., Santos, A. C. The crystalline principle of Luffa cylindrica (Linn.) Roemer. Rev. filipina med. farm., 1939, p. 168-170.
Takemoto, Tsunematsu., Arihara, Shigenobu., Yoshikawa, Kazuko., Tanaka, Reiko., Hayashi, Teruaki. Studies on the constituents of Cucurbitaceae plants. XIII. On the saponin constituents of Luffa cylindrica Roem. (2). Yakugaku zasshi, 1985, p. 834-839.
Hussein, Laila., El-Fouly, Mohamed M., El-Baz, F. K., Ghanem, S. A. Nutritional quality and the presence of anti-nutritional factors in leaf protein concentrates (LPC). International journal of food sciences and nutrition, 1999, p. 333-343.
Abu Hasan Howlader, Md., Iqbal, Md. Shamim., Islam, S. M. Sirajul., Quader, M. A. Phytochemical constituents of some vegetables. Dhaka university journal of science, 2013, p. 147-151.

Boundary

A constituent measurement is a fact about material at a stated preparation, not a statement about what that material does in a person. An adverse-effect or genotoxicity record is an observation reported in a source, most often in an animal or laboratory model. Neither is a Metatron Health conclusion about causality, human risk or benefit, and the absence of a record is not proof that a preparation is safe. Nothing here is diagnosis, prescribing or individual medical care.

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Independent literature