Bottle Gourd
Bottle Gourd
English name: Bottle gourd
Scientific name: Lagenaria siceraria
Local name: লাউ (‘Lau’)/ কদু
Taxonomic Position According to Cronquist (1988)
| Kingdom | :Plantae |
| Division | : Magnoliophyta |
| Class | : Magnoliopsida |
| Sub-class | : Dilleniidae |
| Order | : Violales |
| Family | :Cucurbitaceae |
| Genus | : Lagenaria |
| Species | :L. siceraria |
Economic importance: The leaf and twig are used leafy vegetables. Young and tender fruits are used as vegetable. The ripe hard fruit-shells are used as bottles, pipes, blowing horns and snuff boxes. The shells are also used for making musical instruments. The fruit-pulp is considered emetic, purgative, cooling and diuretic. The seed oil is applied externally in headache.
Table 1. Bottle gourd varieties developed by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) Gazipur, Bangladesh
| Sl. No. | Name of variety | Developed by | Year of release | Growing season | Average yield (t ha-1) |
| 1 | BARI Lau-1 | HRC, BARI | 1996 | Throughout the year | 42-45 |
| 2 | BARI Lau-2 | HRC, BARI | 2006 | Throughout the year | 55-60 |
| 3 | BARI Lau-3 | HRC, BARI | 2010 | Throughout the year | 62 |
| 4 | BARI Lau-4 | HRC, BARI | 2010 | Throughout the year | 80-85 |
5 | BARI Lau-5 | HRC, BARI | 2017 | Throughout the year | 48-50 |
| 6 | BARI Shita Lau-1 | HRC, BARI | 2010 | Throughout the year | 82 |
| 7 | BU Lau 1 | BSMRAU | 2016 | – | – |
| 8 | BU hybrid lau 1 | BSMRAU | 2016 | – | – |