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Cucumber
Scientific Name: Cucumis sativus
Family: Cucurbitaceae
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Some botanists believe the cucumber to be a close relative of the watermelon. Like other plants of the Cucurbitaceae, the cucumber is an annual herbaceous plant, with branching and angular stems, palmate three- to five-lobed leaves, and the tissues generally rough and hispid to the touch. The flowers, unisexual, are borne at the axil of the leaves and are greenish yellow in color. The edible portion of the plant is given by the unripe fruits that have the same general characteristics as the fruits of other plants of the Cucurbitaceae. They are large berries, with a hard epicarp when ripe, and are more properly called "pepo." In particular, the cucumber fruits have a typical elongate shape, rounded at the extremities, and are often provided with hispid, superficial tubercules. According to several authorities, including Naudin, who devoted his career to the study of the Cucurbitaceae, the cucumber, although never found in the wild state, is native to India, and, more extensively, to tropical Asia. It is one of the food plants used by Oriental populations for more than three thousand years; one proof of this long use is, for example, its Sanskirt name, soukasa. From the Far East the cucumber came to eastern Europe many centuries ago. Its presence in ancient Egypt is the subject of some controversy. According to some botanists it was already there at the time of the Twelfth Dynasty. It is mentioned in the Bible, and it is believed that the Hebrews imported it from Egypt to the Promised Land, where it became one of their most popular foods. It was known to the Greeks and was used extensively by the Romans. Tiberius was extremely fond of cucumbers. Columella described their cultivation in his book De re rustica. The cultivars of cucumbers used in the past were numerous, from the "Russian cucumber" with small, smooth, ovoid fruits, and the Holland Yellow, with elongate fruits, to the various long green, and the small Paris Green which are particularly suitable for pickling. At present, agricultural trends toward large monocultures of garden vegetables have also affected the cucumber, especially in relation to the earliness of the crop and the resistance to parasites. Many of the old cultivars have disappeared, with the exception of Paris Green, and have been replaced by new cultivars, such as Victory, Ohio MR 17, Sunnybrook, Pioneer, Marketer, West Indian Gherkin, Straight Eight, Marketmore 70, China (Kyoto), and Mariner (all female). Cucumbers are almost always eaten raw, and rather unripe. The very young fruits, used whole, are suitable for pickling, but mature fruits may also be used in this way. They are usually eaten in salads, but in some Slavic countries they are cooked in various ways with meat. From the standpoint of food value the cucumber is very rich in water and is therefore a most refreshing vegetable, but almost completely lacking in nutritive value: the amount of nitrogen compounds is less than 1%; lipids are almost completely lacking, and carbohydrates are scarce (2 - 3%). It has some vitamin C, thiamin, and riboflavin. Among the good and bad qualities of this vegetable, it should be added that it is found by some people to be very indigestible. [Bianchini, Francesco, Corbetta, Francesco, Pistoia, Marilena, The Complete Book of Fruits and Vegetables, United States Translation: Crown Publishers, New York, 1976; Originally published in Italy as I Frutti della Terra, Arnoldo Mondadori Publisher, Italy, 1973]