Anti-nutritional and toxic factors
Luffa seeds and oil meal are bitter, due to the presence of cucurbitacin B, a steroid that is cytotoxic and poisonous to some animals. Another cucurbitacin found in luffa seeds is colocynthin, a purgative terpenoid glycoside. Processes such as soaking, heat, or moist heat combined with fermentation alleviate toxicity in cucurbit seeds and meals and enhance their nutritive value (Thacker et al., 1992). In the Brazil Nordeste, farmers have reported that Luffa acutangula was linked to abortions in cattle and sheep, and that putting luffa fruits in the drinking water of calves as an anthelmintic resulted in the death of 20 animals (Silva et al., 2006).