Cat shit melon also known as cat shit, ghost fingers, cat shit tube is a nutritious wild fruit

Cat shit melon

Cat shit melon, also known as cat shit, ghost finger, cat shit tube, Mutong family cat shit melon is a deciduous shrub plant, up to 5 meters high.

Distributed in the deep mountains of Qinling Mountains and Bashan Mountains, it is called "cat shit" in Bazhong, Sichuan, Wanzhou, Chongqing, Enshi, Hubei and other mountainous areas.

It is also called Chicken intestines in Zhaotong area of Yunnan Province.

Because its fruit is blue-purple, juicy and shaped like cat shit after ripening, it is commonly known as "cat shit melon", also known as "cat shit".

Cat shit melon belongs to the family Lardizbalaceae, which is a tufted deciduous shrub. Up to 2-6 meters high, the bark is dark gray-brown, the young branches are yellowish green, and the pith in the stem is thick, white and loose.

Large odd-pinnate leaves, up to 50 cm long, alternate, leaflets 13-25, opposite, ovoid or rectangular-orbicular.

Apex acuminate, base broadly cuneate, entire, leaf surface light green, abaxially grayish white, total petiole and petiolule base dilated, with obvious joints.

Panicle terminal, pendulous, flowers polygamous, bisexual flowers, yellowish green, campanulate

Berries cylindrical, usually slightly curved, 5-15 cm long, green when young, blue or blue-purple when ripe, juicy, shaped like cat shit

Seeds flattened, oblong, black, ca. 1 cm.

The flowering period is from May to June and the fruit is ripe from October to November.

Cat dung melon is a kind of wild economic plant with great development value.

The fruit is rich in nutrition, and the pulp is rich in sugars, protein, fat, pectin, vitamins and mineral nutrients.

Taste as sweet as honey, can be used for fresh food and processing sugar, wine, food, pectin, jelly, jam and so on.

Its seed oil content is 18%-22%, the oil yield is similar to that of cottonseed, the oil is edible, its taste is delicious and nutritious, and it can be used to make soap and industrial oil.

The pericarp is rich in rubber, the content is about 10%-20% of dry weight, and the chemical structure of rubber is the same as general natural rubber, mixed with styrene-butadiene rubber, can be used as general rubber products.

Morphological characteristics

The pinnately compound leaves of cat shit melon are 50-80 cm long, 13-35 leaflets, with short stalks, ovate to ovate-oblong, 6-14 cm long, and abaxially gray-white.

May-June flowering, panicle drooping, 20-50 cm long; pedicel 1-1.5 cm long, flowers light green, tepals 6, outer whorl slightly longer than inner whorl.

Fruit cylindrical, slightly arched, 5-10 cm long and 1-2 cm in diameter.

Growing environment

Born in shady and wet places beside valley slopes or deep gullies at an altitude of 9-2200 meters.

Distribution range

Distributed in Shaanxi, Gansu, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and southwest provinces.

Main value

Roots and fruits are used for medicinal purposes and can clear away heat and detoxify. Root frying water to wash the anus, Yin door itching; fruit water decoction to treat hernia.

Cat dung melon is a kind of wild economic plant with great development value.

The pericarp is rich in rubber, which is about 10% to 20% of the dry weight.

And the chemical structure of this kind of rubber is the same as that of general natural rubber, and it can be used as general rubber products when mixed with styrene-butadiene rubber.

Cat dung melon is a kind of valuable wild rubber plant.

Cat dung melon is a kind of nutritious wild fruit.

Its pulp is rich in sugars, protein, fat, pectin, vitamins and mineral nutrients.

Taste as sweet as honey, can be used for fresh food and processing sugar, wine, food, pectin, jelly, jam and so on.

The oil content of its seeds is 18%-22%.

The oil yield is similar to that of cottonseed, and the oil is edible, delicious and nutritious. It can also be used as industrial oil for making soap.