Luffa

Luffa
	; Egyptian luffa with nearly mature fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae;
Division:	Magnoliophyta;
Class:	Magnoliopsida;
Order:	Cucurbitales;
Family:	Cucurbitaceae;
Genus:	Luffa; Mill.
Species
	Luffa acutangula (Angled Luffa, Ridged Luffa, Vegetable Gourd); Luffa aegyptiaca / Luffa cylindrica (Smooth Luffa, Egyptian Luffa, Dishrag Gourd, Sponge Gourd Loofa); Luffa operculata (Wild Loofa, Sponge Cucumber);

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The luffa, loofah, or lufah (from Arabic لوف) are tropical and subtropical vines comprising the genus Luffa. The fruit of at least two species, Luffa acutangula and Luffa aegyptiaca (Luffa cylindrica), is grown to be harvested before maturity and eaten as a vegetable, popular in Asia and Africa.

The Luffa acutangula is commonly known as ridged gourd and is called 'توری' in Urdu, "bhol" in Assamese, 絲瓜 si¹gua¹ in Mandarin Chinese, Turai or Tori (तोरी) in Hindi, Jhinga in Bengali, Janhi(ଜନ୍ହି) in Oriya, gisoda in Gujarati, Beera kaya (బీర కాయ) in Telugu, Heeray kayi in Kannada, peechinga in Malayalam, Dodaka (दोडका) or Ghosavala (घोसावळं) in Marathi, Peerkankaai (பீர்கங்காய்) in Tamil, Wetakolu in Sinhala, Mướp in Vietnamese language, Patola in Tagalog, Kabatiti in Ilocano, and Pitulo in Padang or Minangkabau, Gambas or Oyong in Indonesian language.

Luffa species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Hypercompe albicornis.

[edit] Uses by humans

The fruit of L. aegyptiaca may be allowed to mature and used as a bath or kitchen sponge after being processed to remove everything but the network of xylem. This version is called lifah in Arabic, bholor jaal in Assamese, dhundul in Bengali, ghiya tori or nerua in Hindi. A luffa or loofah sponge is used like a body scrub. Both the coarse textured sponge and the soft textured sponge are called luffas or loofahs. The latter soft textured luffa sponges are not in fact derived from the luffa fruit, but are manufactured by folding in several layers of soft mesh-like fabric into a cloud-like shape; commonly used in tandem with shower gels/lotions.

Its juice is used as an effective natural remedy for jaundice. The juice is obtained by pounding the bitter luffa and squeezing it through a cloth. Bitter luffa seeds and dry crusts are also available and can be used for the same purpose.