Trichosanthes dioica

Trichosanthes dioica
Stuffed parval.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Trichosanthes
Species: T. dioica
Binomial name
Trichosanthes dioica
Roxb.


Trichosanthes dioica is also known as the pointed gourd, parwal/parval (from Hindi),Kovakkai(from Tamil) or thonde kayi (from Kannada), or potol (from Assamese, Sanskrit, Oriya or Bengali (পটল) pôţol) "Paror" in Maithili, "Parol" in Magahi and "Parora" in Bhojpuri, Urdu and Awadhi. Colloquially, in India, it is often called green potato. It is widely cultivated in the eastern and some northern part of India, particularly in Odisha, Bengal, Assam, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. It is a good source of carbohydrates, vitamin A, and vitamin C. It also contains major nutrients and trace elements (magnesium, potassium, copper, sulfur, and chlorine) which are needed in small quantities, for playing essential roles in human physiology.

It is a vine plant, similar to cucumber and squash, though unlike those it is perennial. It is a dioecious (male and female plants) vine (creeper) plant with heart-shaped leaves (cordate) and is grown on a trellis. The fruits are green with white or no stripes. Size can vary from small and round to thick and long — 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm). It thrives well under a hot to moderately warm and humid climate. The plant remains dormant during the winter season and prefers a fertile, well-drained sandy loam soil due to its susceptibility to water-logging.

It is used as ingredients of soup, stew, curry, sweet, or eaten fried and as potoler dorma or dolma (dolma) with fish, roe or meat stuffing.

See also

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