Cucumber

Overview

C. sativus is found to start from the foothills of the Himalayas. In India the cucumber was developed 3000 a long time prior, and was known in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. In the 6th century it was developed in China and most likely cucurbit was developed to reach Malesia. It is currently being developed worldwide.

Vernacular Names

• Burma: thakhwa
• Cambodia: trâsâk
• English: Cucumber, gherkin
• France: Concombre, cornichon
• Indonesia: ketimun, mentimun (Javanese), bonteng (Sundanese)
• Laos: tèèng
• Malaysia: timun, mentimun
• Papua New Guinea: kukamba, kuikamba
• Philippines: kalabaga (Bisaya), kasimum (Bontoc), pipino (Tagalog)
• Thailand: taeng-kwa (general), taeng-ran, taeng-om (northern)
• Vietnam: dưa chuột, dưa leo

Agroecology

Cucumber requires a warm climate. The ideal temperature for development is almost 30 °C, elevations up to 1000 m, abundant light tends to prolong the number of blooming flowers. Soil should ideally be rich, well drained, with a pH of 6.5-7.5.

Morphology

• Seeds: level, ovate-oblong in layout, 8-10 mm × 3-5 mm, white, smooth
• Fruit: a pepo, pendulous, exceptionally variable in shape, measure and colour, from about globular to round and hollow, frequently marginally bended, with scattered spinous tubercles and warts when youthful; spines dark or white; substance pale green, many-seeded (seedless in parthenocarpic cultivars)
• Flowers: axillary, unisexual, every so often bisexual, 2.5-4 cm in distance across, yellow; male blossoms prevailing, borne in clusters of 3-7 on pedicels 0.5-2 cm long, stamens 3, free; female blossoms singular, on brief thick pedicels 3-5 mm long, protracting in natural product to 2-5 cm, fashion straightforward, marks of disgrace 3, ovary 2-5 cm long; calyx campanulate, 5-lobed, 5-10 mm long, thickly pubescent; corolla broadly campanulate, profoundly 5-lobed, up to 2 cm long, bushy, wrinkled
• Leaves: substitute, basic, in layout triangular-ovate, 7-20 cm × 7-15 cm; petiole 5-20 cm long; leaf-blade 3-7-lobed, profoundly cordate at base, intense at pinnacle, flaps triangular, intense at summit, dentate
• Stem: 4-5-angled, sparingly branched, strong, with basic ringlets up to 30 cm long embedded inverse the clears out

Cultivation

Cucumbers are cultivated from seeds. Soil arrangement requires fertilizer about 30 t/ha. The seeds are sown in the nursery and the seedlings are transferred to the field at a depth of 30-40 cm and the distance between the columns is 1-2 m. Cucumbers grown for pickles are planted closer together, up to 250,000 plants/ha.

Chemical Constituents

Water, protein, fat, carbohydrates, Ca, Fe, Mg, P, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin C, terpene, saponin, hypoxanthine.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• India:  the fruit is used as a demulcent and the seed as a diuretic, tonic, and coolant
• Korea: the stalk of the unripe fruit is used as a remedy for dropsy, nasal disorders, epilepsy, and cough, also as an emetic
• Indo-China: young fruit cooked in sugar is prescribed for children with dysentery
• Indonesia: fruit and juice are considered beneficial for sprue and to treat gallstones