Also known as white gourd, marrow, calabash or long melons, bottle gourds are a fruit with a light green skin and white seedy flesh. They come in a variety of shapes, thick and rounded, small and bottle shaped or long and slim. The young fruits are eaten as a vegetable and the mature can be used as a bottle, pipe or utensil. Thus the name bottle gourd.

• Bottle gourd is rich in dietary fibre, both, soluble and insoluble. Hence, it helps in curing constipation, flatulence and even piles.

• The vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre in lauki keep the body well-nourished and curb unnecessary appetite, especially if you drink its juice in the morning on an empty stomach.

• It also contains sodium, potassium, essential minerals and trace elements, which regulate blood pressure and prevent the risk of heart ailments.

• Bottle gourd is recommended by Ayurveda physicians for balancing the liver function, when the liver is inflamed and unable to process food efficiently for nutrition and assimilation.

Keep it at room temperature, away from the sunlight.It should be refrigerated if they need to be stored for a long time.