Abstract

Coccinia indica Wight and Arn (CI) is a plant belonging to Cucurbitaceae family. Most of the plant parts of CI are used in traditional system of medicine in India. CI has been demonstrated to exhibit several pharmacological properties including antidiabetic, antioxidant, antimirobial, antidyslipidemic, anthelmintic, antiinflammatory, analgesic antipyretic, hepatoprotective, ovicidal, wound healing, antitussive, anticancer and antilithiatic activities.The health benefits of CIare mainly attributed to the various phytoconstituents such as cryptoxanthin, cucurbitacin, taraxerone, lupeol, taraxerol, xyloglucan, sitosterol, heptacosane, beta amyrin and beta amyrin acetate. This chapter discusses the pharmacological and phytochemical properties of this plant.