Plant of the week: Bitter Apple

Name: Bitter Apple (Citrullus colocynthis)

Otherwise known as: Bitter Melon, Bitter Cucumber

Habitat: A trailing perennial member of the Cucurbitaceae family growing to about 1m in dry sandy soils and wasteland in the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. The plant has hairy, angled stems containing pale green, sinuous, deeply-cut leaves and produces yellow bell-shaped flowers, very similar to cucumber flowers, in the axils that transform into the spherical fruits that resemble miniature watermelons. The fruit and seeds are extremely poisonous, a small amount of the pulp can be fatal.

What does it do: Bitter Apple contains the alkaloid colocynthine, pectin, lignin and magnesium phosphates. It has been used for centuries as a drastic purge in cases of chronic constipation, however, the effect was so dramatic, accompanied by bloody discharges, violent griping pains and inflamed intestines, the practice fell into disuse. The Victorians, who were obsessed with their bowels, imported tons of the plant from Cyprus to make the patent medicine Extractum Colocynthidis, which contained Aloe Vera to alleviate the pain. The plant was also a popular anthelmintic (intestinal worm repellent) in the Mediterranean region, the pulp being mixed with honey to make it more palatable.

Extracts from Bitter Apple pulp are processed by some chemical companies in the United States to produce a spray that is used to deter dogs from biting table and chair legs; apparently it has no ill-effect on the dog but they certainly don’t like it.

Furriers have used the dried fruit in their warehouses to repel moths.

Bitter Apple, known as ‘Pikragouria’ is very common in the uncultivated area around Dhali and Yeri.

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