Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria Siceraria) Juice Poisoning

We present the case of a young woman who presented to us with multiple episodes of vomiting, followed by hematemesis and abdominal pain after consuming bottle gourd juice. The patient was resuscitated and stabilized with fluids, proton pump inhibitors and antiemetics and discharged in stable condition. As a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, bottle gourd contains toxic tetracyclic triterpenoid compounds called cucurbitacins which are responsible for the bitter taste and toxicity. There is no known antidote for this toxicity, and clinicians treat such patients symptomatically only.