Citrullus Colocynthis - Uses

Uses

Citrullus colocynthis can be used for different purposes: it can either be eaten or elaborated for further uses in medicine and as energy source, e.g. oilseed and biofuel. The characteristic small seed of the colocynth have been found in several early archeological sites in northern Africa and the Near East, specifically at Neolithic Armant, Nagada in Egypt; at sites dating from 3800 BC to Roman times in Libya; and the pre-pottery Neolithic levels of the Nahal Hemar Caves in Israel. Zohary and Hopf speculate that "these finds indicate that the wild colocynth was very probably used by humans prior to its domestication."