From en.wikipedia.org:
[Species of flowering plant that produces cucumbers] [other uses] [pp-move]
[pp-semi-indef] [date=November 2014] {{Speciesbox |name = Cucumber |image =
ARS_cucumber.jpg |image_caption = Cucumbers growing on vines |image_alt =
Photograph of cucumber vine with fruits, flowers and leaves visible |image2 =
Cucumber BNC.jpg |image2_caption = A single cucumber fruit |genus = Cucumis
|species = sativus |authority = L. }} The CUCUMBER (_CUCUMIS SATIVUS_) is a
widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears
cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.[1]
Considered an annual plant,[2] there are three main types of cucumber—slicing,
pickling, and seedless—within which several cultivars have been created. The
cucumber originates in Asia extending from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China
(Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi), and Northern Thailand,[3][4]<ref name=powo>[title=
_Cucumis sativus_ L. ][5] but now grows on most continents, and many
different types of cucumber are grown commercially and traded on the global
market. In North America, the term _wild cucumber_ refers to plants in the
genera _Echinocystis_ and _Marah_, though the two are not closely related.
** Description
The cucumber is a creeping vine that roots in the ground and grows up
trellises or other supporting frames, wrapping around supports with thin,
spiraling tendrils.[6] The plant may also root in a soilless medium, whereby
it will sprawl along the ground in lieu of a supporting structure. The vine
has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruits.[date=February 2021]
The fruit of typical cultivars of cucumber is roughly cylindrical, but
elongated with tapered ends, and may be as large as [62] long and [10] in
diameter.[7]
Cucumber fruits consist of 95% water (see nutrition table). In botanical
terms, the cucumber is classified as a _pepo_, a type of botanical berry with
a hard outer rind and no internal divisions. However, much like tomatoes and
squashes, it is often perceived, prepared, and eaten as a vegetable.[8]
*** Flowering and pollination
{{Infobox genome | image = <!-- Karyotype, for instance --> | caption = |
taxId = 1639 | ploidy = diploid | chromosomes = <!-- number of pairs --> |
size = 323.99 Mb | year = | organelle = mitochondrion | organelle-size =
244.82 Mb | organelle-year = 2011 }}
Most cucumber cultivars are seeded and require pollination. For this purpose,
thousands of honey beehives are annually carried to cucumber fields just
before bloom. Cucumbers may also be pollinated via bumblebees and several
other bee species. Most cucumbers that require pollination are
self-incompatible, thus requiring the pollen of another plant in order to form
seeds and fruit.[9] Some self-compatible cultivars exist that are related to
the 'Lemon cucumber' cultivar.<ref name="Nonnecke" />
A few cultivars of cucumber are parthenocarpic, the blossoms of which create
seedless fruit without pollination, which degrades the eating quality of these
cultivar. In the United States, these are usually grown in greenhouses, where
bees are excluded. In Europe, they are grown outdoors in some regions, where
bees are likewise excluded.[date=February 2021]
Traditional cultivars produce male blossoms first, then female, in about
equivalent numbers. Newer gynoecious hybrid cultivars produce almost all
female blossoms. They may have a pollenizer cultivar interplanted, and the
number of beehives per unit area is increased, but temperature changes induce
male flowers even on these plants, which may be sufficient for pollination to
occur.<ref name="Nonnecke" />
In 2009, an international team of researchers announced they had sequenced the
cucumber genome.[10]
A study of genetic recombination during meiosis in cucumber provided a high
resolution landscape of meiotic DNA double strand-breaks and genetic
crossovers.<ref name = Wang2023>[vauthors=Wang Y, Dong Z, Ma Y, Zheng Y, Huang
S, Yang X ] The average number of crossovers per chromosome per meiosis was
0.92 to 0.99.<ref name = Wang2023/>
*** Herbivore defense
Phytochemicals in cucumbers may discourage natural foraging by herbivores,
such as insects, nematodes or wildlife.[11] As a possible defense mechanism,
cucumbers produce cucurbitacin C,[12] which causes a bitter taste in some
cucumber varieties. This potential mechanism is under preliminary research to
identify whether cucumbers are able to deter herbivores and environmental
stresses by using an intrinsic chemical defense, particularly in the leaves,
cotyledons, pedicel, carpopodium, and fruit.<ref name=":0a" />[13]
** Nutrition, aroma, and taste
{{nutritional value | name=Cucumber, with peel, raw | water=95.23 g | kJ=65 |
protein=0.65 g | fat=0.11 g | carbs=3.63 g | fiber=0.5 g | sugars=1.67 |
calcium_mg=16 | iron_mg=0.28 | magnesium_mg=13 | phosphorus_mg=24 |
potassium_mg=147 | sodium_mg=2 | zinc_mg=0.2 | manganese_mg=0.079 |
vitC_mg=2.8 | thiamin_mg=0.027 | riboflavin_mg=0.033 | niacin_mg=0.098 |
pantothenic_mg=0.259 | vitB6_mg=0.04 | folate_ug=7 | vitK_ug=16.4 | note=Link
to USDA database entry (see
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168409/nutrients) }}
Raw cucumber (with peel) is 95% water, 4% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and
contains negligible fat. A [100] reference serving provides [65] of food
energy. It has a low content of micronutrients: it is notable only for
vitamin K, at 14% of the Daily Value (table).
Depending on variety, cucumbers may have a mild melon aroma and flavor, in
part resulting from unsaturated aldehydes, such as [(E,Z)-nona-2,6-dienal],
and the _cis_ - and _trans_ - isomers of 2-nonenal.[14] The slightly bitter
taste of cucumber rind results from cucurbitacins.[15]
Research from 2018 found that polyphenol content was higher in unpeeled
cucumbers.[16]
** Varieties
[List of cucumber varieties] In general cultivation, cucumbers are classified
into three main cultivar groups: slicing, pickling, and seedless/burpless.
** Culinary uses
[Cucumber]
*** Fruit
**** Slicing
Cucumbers grown to eat fresh are called _slicing cucumbers_. The main
varieties of slicers mature on vines with large leaves that provide
shading.[17]
Slicers grown commercially for the North American market are generally longer,
smoother, more uniform in color, and have much tougher skin. In contrast,
those in other countries, often called European cucumbers, are smaller and
have thinner, more delicate skin, often with fewer seeds, thus are often sold
in plastic skin for protection. This variety may also be called a _telegraph
cucumber_, particularly in Australasia.[18]
**** Pickling
[Pickled cucumber] Pickling with brine, sugar, vinegar, and spices creates
various flavored products from cucumbers and other foods.[19] Although any
cucumber can be pickled, commercial pickles are made from cucumbers specially
bred for uniformity of length-to-diameter ratio and lack of voids in the
flesh. Those cucumbers intended for pickling, called _picklers_, grow to
about [7] long and [2.5] wide. Compared to slicers, picklers tend to be
shorter, thicker, less-regularly shaped, and have bumpy skin with tiny white
or black-dotted spines. Color can vary from creamy yellow to pale or dark
green.[date=February 2021]
**** Gherkin
Gherkins, also called _cornichons_,[20] or _baby pickles_, are small
cucumbers, typically those [1] in length, often with bumpy skin, which are
typically used for pickling.[21][22][23] The word _gherkin_ comes from the
early modern Dutch _gurken_ or _augurken_ ('small pickled cucumber').[24] The
term is also used in the name for _Cucumis anguria_, the _West Indian
gherkin_, a closely related species.[25]
**** Burpless
Burpless cucumbers are sweeter and have a thinner skin than other varieties of
cucumber. They are reputed to be easy to digest and to have a pleasant taste.
They can grow as long as [2], are nearly seedless, and have a delicate skin.
Most commonly grown in greenhouses, these parthenocarpic cucumbers are often
found in grocery markets, shrink-wrapped in plastic. They are marketed as
either burpless or seedless, as the seeds and skin of other varieties of
cucumbers are said to give some people gas.[26]
*** Shoots
Cucumber shoots are regularly consumed as a vegetable, especially in rural
areas. In Thailand they are often served with a crab meat sauce. They can
also be stir fried or used in soups.<ref name= "Cook's Guide" >[last1=Hutton ]
** Production
{| class="wikitable floatright" style="clear:right; width:13em;
text-align:center; margin-right:1em;" |- ! colspan=2|Cucumber production –
2022 |- ! style="background:#ddf;"| Country ! style="background:#ddf;"|
[millions <br /> of tonne s] |- | [CHN] || 77.3 |- | [TUR] || 1.9 |- | [RUS]
|| 1.6 |- | [MEX] || 1.1 |- | WORLD || 94.7 |- |colspan=2|<small>Source:
FAOSTAT of the United Nations</small>[27] |}
In 2022, world production of cucumbers and gherkins was 95 million tonnes, led
by China with 82% of the total.<ref name=faostat/>
** Cultivation history
Cultivated for at least 3,000 years, the cultivated cucumbers _"Cucumis
sativus"_ were domesticated in India from wild "_C. sativus var.
hardwickii_".<ref name="nph..onlinelibrary.wiley.com"/><ref name="Plant
Breeding Reviews"/><ref name="tandfonline.com"/> where a great many varieties
have been observed, along with its closest living relative, _Cucumis
hystrix_.[28] The three main cultivar groups of cucumber are Eurasian
cucumbers (slicing cucumbers eaten raw and immature), East Asian cucumbers
(pickling cucumbers), and Xishuangbanna cucumbers. Based on demographic
modelling, the East Asian C. sativus cultivars diverged from the Indian
cultivars about 2,500 years ago.[29] It was probably introduced to Europe by
the Greeks or Romans. Records of cucumber cultivation appear in France in the
9th century, England in the 14th century, and in North America by the mid-16th
century.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica" />[30][31][32]
*** Roman Empire
According to Pliny the Elder, the Emperor Tiberius had the cucumber on his
table daily during summer and winter. In order to have it available for his
table every day of the year, the Romans reportedly used artificial growing
methods (similar to the greenhouse system) using _mirrorstone_, Pliny's _lapis
specularis_, believed to have been sheet mica:[33][34]
[text=Indeed, he was never without it; for he had raised beds made in frames
upon wheels, by means of which the cucumbers were moved and exposed to the
full heat of the sun; while, in winter, they were withdrawn, and placed under
the protection of frames glazed with mirrorstone.]
Reportedly, they were also cultivated in _specularia_, cucumber houses glazed
with oiled cloth.<ref name="AncientInventions" /> Pliny describes the Italian
fruit as very small, probably like a gherkin. He also describes the
preparation of a medication known as _elaterium_. However, some
scholars[date=February 2013] believe that he was instead referring to
_Ecballium elaterium_, known in pre-Linnean times as _Cucumis silvestris_ or
_Cucumis asininus_ ('wild cucumber' or 'donkey cucumber'), a species different
from the common cucumber.[35] Pliny also writes about several other varieties
of cucumber, including the cultivated cucumber,[36] and remedies from the
different types (9 from the cultivated; 5 from the "anguine;" and 26 from the
"wild").
*** Middle Ages
Charlemagne had cucumbers grown in his gardens in the 8th/9th century. They
were reportedly introduced into England in the early 14th century, lost, then
reintroduced approximately 250 years later. The Spaniards (through the
Italian Christopher Columbus) brought cucumbers to Haiti in 1494. In 1535,
Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, found "very great cucumbers" grown on the
site of what is now Montreal.[37]
*** Early-modern age
Throughout the 16th century, European trappers, traders, bison hunters, and
explorers bartered for the products of American Indian agriculture. The
tribes of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains learned from the Spanish
how to grow European crops. The farmers on the Great Plains included the
Mandan and Abenaki. They obtained cucumbers and watermelons from the Spanish,
and added them to the crops they were already growing, including several
varieties of corn and beans, pumpkins, squash, and gourd plants.[38] The
Iroquois were also growing them when the first Europeans visited them.[39]
In 1630, the Reverend Francis Higginson produced a book called _New-Englands
Plantation_ in which, describing a garden on Conant's Island in Boston Harbor
known as _The Governor's Garden_, he states:[40]<blockquote>The countrie
aboundeth naturally with store of roots of great [varietie] and good to eat.
Our turnips, parsnips, and carrots are here both bigger and sweeter than is
ordinary to be found in England. Here are store of pompions, cowcumbers, and
other things of that nature which I know not...</blockquote>In _New England
Prospect_ (1633, England), William Wood published observations he made in 1629
in America:[41]<blockquote>[The ground affords very good kitchin gardens, for
Turneps, Parsnips, Carrots, Radishes, and Pompions, Muskmillons,
Isquoter-squashes, coucumbars, Onyons, and whatever grows well in England
grows as well there, many things being better and larger.]</blockquote>
*** Age of Enlightenment and later
In the later 17th century, a prejudice developed against uncooked vegetables
and fruits. A number of articles in contemporary health publications stated
that uncooked plants brought on summer diseases and should be forbidden to
children. The cucumber kept this reputation for an inordinate period of time,
"fit only for consumption by cows," which some believe is why it gained the
name, _cowcumber_.[date=February 2021]
Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary on 22 August 1663:[42]<blockquote>[T]his day
Sir W. Batten tells me that Mr. Newburne is dead of eating cowcumbers, of
which the other day I heard of another, I think.</blockquote>
John Evelyn in 1699 wrote that the cucumber, 'however dress'd, was thought fit
to be thrown away, being accounted little better than poyson
(poison)'.[43][44]
According to 18th-century British writer Samuel Johnson, it was commonly said
among English physicians that a cucumber "should be well sliced, and dressed
with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing."[45]
A copper etching made by Maddalena Bouchard between 1772 and 1793 shows this
plant to have smaller, almost bean-shaped fruits, and small yellow flowers.
The small form of the cucumber is figured in Herbals of the 16th century,
however stating that "[i]f hung in a tube while in blossom, the Cucumber will
grow to a most surprising length."[date=February 2021]
** Gallery
<gallery mode="packed"> File:Organic Gardener Holding a Fresh Salad
Cucumber.jpg|Salad cucumber File:An Indian yellow cucumber.jpg|An Indian
yellow cucumber File:Kurkkuja.jpg|A Scandinavian cucumber in slices
File:Cucumber grated.jpg|Grated cucumber File:Komkommer (Cucumis sativus 'Gele
Tros').jpg|Komkommer (_Cucumis sativus_ 'Gele Tros') File:Hmong cucumber.jpg|A
varietal grown by the Hmong people with textured skin and large seeds
File:Lemon cucumber J1.JPG|Lemon cucumber File:Mizeria.jpg|Dish with cucumber
cut pieces (mizeria) File:PicklingCucumbers.jpg|Pickling cucumbers
File:Spreewaldgurke2.jpg|Gherkins File:Persiancucumber.jpg|Isfahan burpless
cucumber, Iran File:Leaves of Cucumber (a creeping vine plant).jpg|Leaves
File:Cucumber vine in New Jersey.jpg|A tendril emerges from cucumber vines to
facilitate climbing File:Cucumbers growing on a string lattice structure.jpg|A
string lattice supports vine growth File:Cucumber hanging on the vine.JPG|A
bulb-shaped cucumber hanging on the vine File:Cucumber plants.jpg|Cucumber
plant File:Harvested vegetables(Cucumbers).jpg|Harvested Cucumber among other
vegetables File:Harvested vegetables(Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Aubergine)
2.jpg|Harvested cucumber among other vegetables </gallery>
** See also
[colwidth=22em]
- Armenian cucumber , a variety of melon that resembles a cucumber
- Cucumber blessing
- Cucumber cake
- Cucumber juice
- Cucumber raita
- Cucumber sandwich
- Cucumber soda
- Cucumber soup
- Sea cucumber , named for its resemblance to the fruit
[div col end]
** References
[35em]
[from=Q23425] [Authority control]
Category:Fruit vegetables Category:Plants described in 1753