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CULTURAL AND WILD PLANTS
Cucumber. Legends, myths, symbolism, description, cultivation, methods of application
Directory / Cultivated and wild plants Content
Cucumber, Cucumis sativus. Photos of the plant, basic scientific information, legends, myths, symbolism
Basic scientific information, legends, myths, symbolism Sort by: Cucumber (Cucumis) Family: Cucurbitaceae (Cucurbitaceae) Origin: India Area: Cucumber is widely distributed in the tropics and subtropics, including Africa, Asia, Europe and America. Chemical composition: Cucumbers are rich in water and contain vitamins (eg vitamin C, vitamin K) and minerals (eg potassium, magnesium, calcium). They also contain flavonoids and carotenoids, which have antioxidant properties. Economic value: Cucumbers are widely used in the food industry for salads, appetizers, marinades, juices, etc. They are also grown as ornamental plants, and their extracts are used in cosmetics and medicines for their soothing and anti-inflammatory properties. Legends, myths, symbolism: The cucumber has been known for over 3000 years and has a rich history associated with many legends, myths and symbolic meanings. One of the legends is connected with the ancient Greek god Zeus and his mistress, beautiful Europe. According to legend, Zeus turned into a bull and carried Europa on his horns across the sea to Crete. Along the way, they stopped in fields where Europa gathered cucumbers and shared them with Zeus. In another legend, which tells about the origin of the cucumber, it is said that the Athenian king, who was called the Dragon, died very unexpectedly and his sons decided to divide his possessions. One of them, named Pandion, inherited land where cucumbers grew, which were completely unknown at that time. He decided to spread them all over Greece, and since then cucumbers have become a popular vegetable. In ancient Roman traditions, the cucumber was considered a symbol of wealth and abundance, and they were often served at dinners and banquets. Cucumbers were also used for cosmetic purposes - they were added to facial masks to soften and moisturize the skin. The symbolic meaning of the cucumber is also related to its properties - the cucumber is a very watery and fresh vegetable and is also considered a diuretic. Because of this, the cucumber is often associated with the concept of purity, refreshing effect and the ability to eliminate excess fluid from the body.
Cucumber, Cucumis sativus. Description, illustrations of the plant Cucumber, Cucumis sativus L. Botanical description, history of origin, nutritional value, cultivation, use in cooking, medicine, industry
An annual herbaceous plant. The stem is creeping, branched, pubescent, up to 3 m long. The leaves are large, simple, heart-shaped, petiolate, pubescent. Cucumber is a dioecious, cross-pollinating plant. Flowers axillary, large, yellow; males (with stamens) are first formed on the stem, and then females (with ovary and pistil). The number of female flowers gradually increases towards the top of the main stem and on the side shoots. The fruit is a multi-seeded, elongated false berry. The seeds are white. Blooms in May-September. Homeland cucumber - the tropics of India, where to this day there are thickets of wild plants. Culture has been known to man for more than 6000 years. It is believed that cucumber came to Eastern Europe from Byzantium. The Slavs appreciated this vegetable, and already in the XNUMXth century it was mentioned in the "Domostroy" in connection with its beneficial properties. Thanks to the Slavs, the cucumber also came to Northern Europe. Now cucumber is one of the most popular vegetable crops. It is grown everywhere both in open and closed ground. More than 50 varieties have been zoned. In our republic, for open ground, varieties are used that are resistant to diseases, early ripening, intended for fresh consumption and for pickling. When growing cucumbers, you must remember that they love heat and moisture. The optimum temperature for their growth is 15-20 °C, for fruiting - not lower than 25 °C. However, very high temperatures inhibit the plants. They give the best harvest on loose, fertile and sufficiently moist soils, in good light. For greens, timely and repeated watering is important. For sowing cucumbers, two spring terms can be recommended - at the end of April and the first half of May, and early summer - in the last decade of June. Perennial herbs, tomato, pepper, potatoes, legumes and bulbs are considered good predecessors. Sow seeds in the ground at a distance of 6 cm from each other; embedment depth 3-4 cm. When the first leaf appears, the plants are thinned out, leaving them at a distance of 15 cm. After that, the bushes are watered, the soil is loosened and hilling is carried out. Loosening should be shallow, since the root system of cucumbers is located in the upper soil layer. Once every ten days, watering is combined with fertilizing with fertilizers. Zelentsy is eaten for food at the age of eight to twelve days from the fertilization of the ovary. The fruits are harvested every two or three days in the morning. At the same time, overgrown, yellowed ones should not be left on the bushes, as they weaken the plants and reduce the yield. Cucumbers are not high in calories, they are low in carbohydrates and very low in protein; 97% cucumber is "solid water". The rest is fiber, pectin, enzymes, carotene and vitamins of groups B, PP, C, pantothenic acid, etc., a set of minerals, among which potassium, phosphorus, iodine, and iron predominate. The main advantages of cucumbers are a pleasant aroma and refreshing taste, due to which they increase appetite, stimulate the digestive glands and thereby improve the absorption of proteins and fats. carbohydrates and minerals. They have a relaxing effect. The low-calorie content of cucumbers makes it possible to recommend them to obese people. It should be noted one more advantage of cucumbers - they contain alkaline substances that neutralize acids when they enter the stomach. Cucumbers are consumed fresh, pickled, pickled. Salads and okroshka are prepared from them. Cucumbers are widely used for the production of skin whitening and cleansing creams and lotions. Cucumber juice and water infusion of green peel remove acne, freckles, age spots. Authors: Kretsu L.G., Domashenko L.G., Sokolov M.D.
Cucumber, Cucumis sativus L. Classification, synonyms, botanical description, nutritional value, cultivation
Names: German Gurke, Kukumer, goal. komkommer; dates agurker; Swede, gurka; aigl. cucumber; fr. concombre, cocombre; it. cetriuolo, citriolo; port, pepino; rum. castraveti; hung. cleaning, ugorka; Slovenian kumare, marke; Serb, krastavci, ugorki; Czech okurky, ugorky; Polish ogorek; Japanese kiuri. The structure of the leaves of cucumbers is monotonous. Varieties of the rigidus group are distinguished by rough leaves; Gracilior varieties have leaves of a more delicate constitution. Whip length. Stem creeping, with creeping branches. These branches are called whips. The longest lashes are in greenhouse varieties (Giant Noah, Improved Gampel, Rollison Telegraph, Best of All, etc.), the shortest - in Murom Cucumber. The varieties Odessa Chernobrivets and Podkopaevsky are also short-braided. Relatively short lashes, however, are much longer than the lashes of Murom, Podkopaevsky, Odessa, Vyaznikovsky cucumber. Cucumber is most often a monoecious plant with unisexual flowers. In such plants, both xenogamous and heitenogamous pollination is possible. However, there are quite a few exceptions to this general rule. So, the Lemon variety has bisexual flowers, as a result of which it self-pollinates. Hermaphrodites are characteristic of almost every variety, but such deviations among ordinary varieties are rare, while in Lemon, on the contrary, unisexual flowers are rare. Self-pollinating cucumbers are essential for greenhouse culture. Breeders noticed the tendency of cucumbers to parthenocarpic fruit formation. By selection, this tendency to parthenocarpy has been strengthened, and at present a number of specially greenhouse varieties have been bred that form fruits without pollination (Best of all, Noah gigantic, Rolisson telegraph, Prescott's Miracle, etc.). To obtain seeds of these varieties, the flowers must be artificially pollinated, as is always done in the greenhouse culture of cucumbers. The seedless fruits that form on plants of parthenocarpic varieties cannot satisfy every taste, and as a result, breeders breed hermaphroditic varieties, self-pollinating and having seeds in their fruits, as noted by Lemon. Hermaphroditism in the whole Cucurbitaceae family is usually accompanied by turban-shaped outgrowths on the top of the fruit, which, of course; ruins his look. Sometimes, however, relatively rarely, self-pollinating hermaphroditic cucumbers do not have a turban and instead of it, the top of the fruit grows, becoming wider. Peculiar features. The young ovary of a cucumber, which has reached a length of about 3-4 cm, is called a puple. Gherkins are prepared from the puples. Roughness, bumpiness of the surface are more characteristic of the navel than of an older fetus. Puplets of tuberous cucumbers (Borshchagovsky, Boston, Precious market, Crimean, Nezhinsky, Nerosimy-A, etc.) have a strongly tuberculate surface and are covered with thorns. By the stage of the greens (i.e., to the stage of a technically ready cucumber), the tubercles diverge at a greater distance from each other, as a result of which the surface of the fruit is leveled. Seed plants, even in strongly tuberculate varieties, become almost smooth. Thus, the surface of the fruit of cucumbers is smoothed out with its age.
There are special varieties of cucumbers - gherkins - both strongly tuberous and relatively smooth. For example, the Bourbon gherkin is a type of highly tuberculate gherkin, while the Parisian gherkin, on the other hand, has puppies with a relatively smooth surface. Puplets of any variety of cucumbers can be used as gherkins, and the puplets of the rigidus subspecies will be strongly tuberculate, and the gracilior subspecies will be relatively smooth. Green stage. In food, cucumber is most often used in the green stage. Later, if greens are left on the plant, the fruits become rough, the seeds hard, the fruit changes color (most often turns yellow), turning into a testicle. Most soil varieties of cucumbers are characterized by an elongated ovoid shape of the fruit or spindle-shaped. However, the shape of the green fruit is very diverse. Duration of the use stage. Black-haired varieties of cucumbers quickly turn yellow, and the yellowed cucumber loses its commercial qualities. On the contrary, white-pubescent cucumbers do not turn yellow (with rare exceptions), but turn white and therefore do not lose the appearance of technically suitable for longer. True, having reached a size normal for greens, white-thorned cucumbers coarsen in the same way as yellowing ones, but in appearance they remain quite marketable. Thus, the duration of the stage of use in white-haired cucumbers is longer than in black-haired ones. Of the black-haired, short varieties turn yellow the fastest: Muromsky, Odessa Chernobrivets. The latter loses its commercial qualities especially quickly. This cucumber often turns yellow before reaching the size typical of greens. Lightness and transportability. Cucumber is a perishable product. Within 2-3 days after picking, cucumbers wither, dry out, lose weight and begin to rot quickly. Storing cucumbers and transporting them over long distances is very difficult. Some keeping quality is found in cucumbers of white-haired varieties (Berlizovsky, Kulenkampa, Nerosimiye, Novopavlovsky, Podkopaevsky, Sensation, Stepan Razin, etc.). In our experiments with the storage of different varieties of cucumbers in a normal room environment, Nerosimy and other white-haired cucumbers were preserved for 2-4 weeks, losing little commercial quality. Of the white-haired varieties, Berlizovsky, Nerosimy, and others are transportable, both because of their relative keeping quality and because of the firm consistency of the fruit pulp. Black-haired varieties are not suitable for long-term transportation without refrigerators. Early maturity. Early ripening in cucumbers is associated with the length of the lashes and the size of the fruit. The most early ripening varieties are with short fruits and short lashes (Astrakhansky, Vyaznikovsky, Muromsky, Odessa Chernobrivets, Podkopaevsky). Productivity. The most productive late varieties of cucumbers. However, the earliest varieties sometimes produce the highest yields, especially during cold summers. Productivity in cucumbers, as in other plants, is related to the size of the vegetative parts. The least productive short climbing early varieties; the highest productivity is characteristic of long-braided late varieties. Cucumbers with a strong predominance of female flowers over male ones are also highly productive. Cucumber is fairly drought tolerant. However, in dry years, different varieties behave differently: some tolerate drought better, others worse. Author: Ipatiev A.N.
Cucumber, Cucumis sativus. Methods of application, origin of the plant, range, botanical description, cultivation
In any garden in the tropics and subtropics, in the temperate zone, as well as in protected ground, you can find beds with cucumbers, from which green fruits are harvested every day. Cucumbers are good at any time of the year, they are consumed fresh, salted and pickled, canned and stuffed with rice and meat. The refreshing aroma of cucumbers is successfully combined with the aromatic substances of other foods and stimulates the appetite. Cucumbers eat not only unripe green fruits, but also testes (fruits in biological ripeness). In some countries of Southeast Asia and Western Europe, such fruits are preserved. Various marinades and gravies are also prepared from them. In Malaysia and Indonesia, young cucumber leaves (fresh or boiled) are eaten. Cucumber fruits contain 4-5% dry matter and 95-96% water. However, as V. I. Edelshtein, a vegetable grower, once noted, this water is not tap water. It contains mineral salts, trace elements and biologically active substances. In folk medicine, cucumbers are used for gastric diseases as a laxative; in recent years, cucumber juice has been used in cosmetics. Cucumber can also become an export item. World production of cucumbers in 1989 was more than 12 million tons, they were grown on an area of over 880 thousand hectares with an average yield of 15 tons/ha. Up to 3,9 million tons are harvested annually in subtropical and other regions of China. Cucumbers are grown a lot in Japan - 1 million tons, in the USA - 0,6 and in Turkey - 0,8 million tons. It comes from the tropical regions of China, India, Myanmar and Indonesia. Cucumber is not known in the wild, although such descriptions are found in the literature. In the tropical forests of North India, on the slopes of the Himalayas, its primitive forms were found. The culture is ancient, very polymorphic due to mutations. Belongs to the number of the most common vegetable crops. Cucumber is an annual herbaceous plant. Stems - creeping, branching vines with pubescence. In the axils of the leaves, shoots, flowers, adventitious roots and tendrils are formed, the latter are the support for a weak faceted stem. In the axil of one leaf, as a rule, flowers of only one sex are laid.
Cucumber is a monoecious plant. However, the scientist N. N. Tkachenko discovered in the cucumber the existence of partially dioecious forms: along with monoecious plants, purely female ones can also be included in the composition of varietal populations. On their basis, varieties and hybrids of the female type are created (mainly for protected ground conditions), which were characterized by increased productivity. According to morphological and genetic characteristics, taking into account environmental factors, 7 subspecies are distinguished. The most important are Chinese (ssp. chinensis), Euro-Asian (ssp. europe-asiaticus) and Japanese (ssp. japonicus). In the conditions of the subtropics and tropics, cucumbers are cultivated mainly in small peasant farms, and in Europe, the USA, Japan - in large industrial farms of protected ground. An industrial technology is being introduced into the field culture for growing varieties with simultaneous ripening of the crop in a short, 5-7-day period at 3-4 nodes at once, which makes it possible to introduce combine harvesting for the needs of the food industry. The plant is heat-loving, moisture-loving, requires good lighting and wind protection. Pollination by bees is desirable, which increases the yield and its quality. Pests and diseases: spider mites, grasshoppers, aphids, mole cricket, anthracnose, downy mildew, fusarium, olive blotch, white and green mosaic, bacterial wilt, powdery mildew and root rot. Requires fertile soil. Authors: Baranov V.D., Ustimenko G.V.
Cucumber. The birthplace of the plant, the history of distribution and cultivation
Full of people. In the old days, the upper room was called the living room in the house. There is no mystery here. There is nothing mysterious about the plant that will be next in our imaginary salad. But there is a mystery about him. And none. Here, for example: "Without windows, without doors, the upper room is full of people." Well, of course, we will talk about cucumber! And there was such a mystery due to the fact that the fruit of the cucumber, that same room, is full of grains. After all, a cucumber is a berry. Homeland cucumber - India. In the wild, it has been growing there for more than six thousand years ago. And until now, wild cucumbers wrap their tenacious stems around tree trunks in Indian forests. Oh, this mighty vine is a cucumber! Cucumbers were also grown there for food. In addition, the cucumber was a sacred plant in India, dedicated to the divine king Sagara, who, according to legend, raised 60 sons from cucumber seeds. No more, no less. From the third millennium BC, cucumbers were familiar to the Egyptians - this is evidenced by the images found by archaeologists on the walls of the pyramids. Some of the cucumbers carved into the stones are even painted green. And in the Bible, one of the oldest books of mankind, in the chapter that tells how the Jews left the Egyptian captivity through the desert, there are memories of the food they ate in slavery: "We remember the fish that we ate for free in Egypt, cucumbers and melons, and onions, and garlic. But now our soul is languishing; there is nothing." Despite the scarcity of food in the desert, the Jews reached the land they aspired to, and where everything was, and built their state there. Then the Romans conquered it. Among the ancient Romans, even some intelligence was attributed to cucumbers. The famous writer and scientist Pliny the Elder, who lived at the very beginning of our era, wrote that if you put bowls of water and vegetable oil near the cucumber ridge, then cucumbers will crawl into vessels with water, and oils will be avoided. What a clever cucumber! In addition, cucumber was considered a good remedy for dog bites. It was also, of course, valued for its taste and juiciness. Under the Roman emperor Tiberius, cucumbers were grown in special greenhouses all year round and even salted. When cucumbers appeared in Rus', it is not known exactly. In any case, the beliefs associated with them have been common for a long time. For example, it was believed that cucumbers should be planted secretly, so that none of the neighbors and even households could see - and if someone peeps, many yellow and watery fruits will be born. Landing should have been done on June 2, on the day of St. Falaley, who even had the corresponding nickname - Falaley the borage. They were very fond of in Rus' a dish that consisted of thin slices of cold lamb, finely chopped cucumbers and cucumber pickle. The meal was called "hangover". This is reported by many foreign travelers. They probably brought cucumbers from Russia to Germany. In any case, the German name for this vegetable - digke, "gurke" - comes from our domestic "cucumber". In Germany, cucumbers were initially treated with prejudice. In the work of Dr. Zabitsius "On Fruit Growing" it was said: "Cucumbers are a harmful plant, which spoils the nutrition in the veins of the human body; moreover, they produce an incurable fever; therefore, it is better to feed horses, mules and donkeys with them." But soon the Germans realized that Dr. Zabitsius was mistaken, and began to eat cucumbers themselves, and feed horses, mules and donkeys, as usual, with oats. However, cucumbers were most loved in the Muslim East, especially in Turkey, where they were considered a very refined delicacy. The Danish traveler Carsten Niebuhr told in one of his writings how Turkish sailors sang a song in which they compared their beauties to cucumbers. How much do you love cucumbers! And here is another story, more dramatic, dating back to 1803. Cucumber plantations were then located in Smyrna, not far from the capital - Constantinople. From Smyrna, the first fruits of the harvest, the removal of which was accompanied by a cannon salute, were traditionally taken to the Sultan's palace. Once it happened that the supplier of the ruler's mother brought her cucumbers before they got to the lord himself. The Sultan's anger was terrible. The supplier almost lost his head. This Sultan, apparently, loved cucumbers even more than the Turkish sailors. But enough talk. Continuing with the imaginary salad, take an imaginary cucumber. How good is he! Not without reason, if someone says that you look like a cucumber, it will mean that you look the best. By the way, a cucumber cut into thin slices and applied to the face is an excellent tool for refreshing the skin and destroying a tan. Author: Gol N.
Cucumber. Useful information
Cucumbers have been known as a vegetable plant for about 6 years. Cucumber is native to northwestern India. The fruit of a cucumber, like pumpkins, is a berry. In India, wild cucumbers grow in the forest, twisting around the trees like creepers. Cucumbers are braided fences in the villages. With a dense planting, the whips of cultivated cucumbers rise up, clinging to the props set up for them. In China and Japan, farmers in small fields harvest various vegetables three times a year. They first grow cucumbers in boxes on the roofs, and then plant them on well-fertilized garden soil and tie them to stakes. Huge fruits of cucumbers 1,5 meters long hang from the trellis. This variety of Chinese cucumbers is grown in greenhouses in Europe. Cucumbers have long been a favorite vegetable plant in Russia. In the farming manual "Florin's Economy, Consisting in Ten Thousands", widespread in the XNUMXth century, we read: "Because in Russia, cucumbers grow better than other European places, then for the sake of it there is not much need to describe them here." Salted cucumbers are especially good in winter. Nezhin cucumbers pickled in pumpkin have long been famous. Author: Verzilin N.
Cucumber. Application in cosmetology
Cucumber preparations whiten and soften the skin, refresh and fortify. Strips of fresh cucumber peel are applied to the face, pressed against the skin and covered with a towel. After removing them after 20-25 minutes, wipe the face with a cotton swab, wash with warm water and lubricate with the usual nourishing cream. You can massage your face with slices of fresh cucumber, using the same method as with finger massage. This massage is especially recommended for men before shaving. With oily skin, vodka is added in equal proportions to cucumber juice. The prepared mixture is systematically wiped over the face like a lotion, and in a few days it will delight you with freshness and whiteness. Fresh cucumber juice can be mixed with gruel from mashed apples, cherries. To keep the mass longer, a small amount of alcohol or cologne is added to it. Dry cucumbers are used to prepare lanolin-cucumber mask. To do this, take 20 g of anhydrous lanolin, 5 g of stearin, 1 g of trietalin, 125 g of cucumber water infusion. Dry cucumbers are poured with water heated to 80 ° C and kept for 2-3 days in a glass jar. The infusion is filtered through gauze. A mixture of fresh cucumber and cabbage juice is a proven remedy for hair growth and strengthening. When cooking floury varieties of potatoes, so that it does not boil soft, you should add a little cucumber pickle to the water. Author: Reva M.L.
Cucumber, Cucumis sativus. Recipes for use in traditional medicine and cosmetology
Ethnoscience:
Cosmetology:
Attention! Before use, consult with a specialist!
Cucumber, Cucumis sativus. Tips for growing, harvesting and storing
Cucumber is a vegetable crop that belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. It is widely used in cooking and is an important ingredient in many dishes. In addition, cucumbers are rich in vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and iron. Tips for growing, harvesting and storing cucumbers: Cultivation:
Workpiece:
Storage:
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