Pharmacognostical Evaluation of Benincasa Hispida (thunb.) Cogn. (Kushmanda) Fruit

Background: Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn. belongs to the genus Benincasa and family Cucurbitaceae which is known as Kushmanda in Ayurveda. Reports of pharmacognostical study of seed are available however there is no published report on fresh fruit of Kushmanda till date. Considering which, the present study is planned. Aims: To record macroscopic and microscopic evaluation of fresh fruit and powder microscopy of Benincasa hispida. Materials & Methods: Fresh fruit of was collected from local market of Jamnagar and authenticated. Standard procedures were followed to undertake the pharmacological evaluation and basic physico-chemical analysis. Results: Fresh fruit showed presence of stone cells, vascular bundles, prismatic crystals, ligni?ed stone cells, ligni?ed pitted parenchyma. Powder microscopy showed annular vessels, oil globules, starch granules, simple ?bers, tannin containing cells and calcium carbonate. Conclusion: As there are no reported study on the whole fruit of Kushmanada, the results obtained from study might help as reference guidance for future scienti?c evaluations of the drug.