Chastity, fertility, and healing
The leaf juice is emetic, it is used to treat dyspepsia in children.
The fruit is depurative, diuretic, emollient, purgative and resolvent.
The fresh fruit is used internally in the treatment of blemished skin, heat rash etc, whilst it is used externally as a poultice for burns, sores etc and also as a cosmetic for softening the skin.
The seed is cooling, diuretic, tonic and vermifuge.
25 – 50 grams of the thoroughly ground seeds (including the seed coat) is a standard dose as a vermifuge and usually needs to be followed by a purgative to expel the worms from the body.
A decoction of the root is diuretic.
