Cucumis savitus

 The cucumber is an ancient vegetable, having been domesticated from non-toxic mutant strains of the wild cucumber, Cucumis hystrix, living what is now Nepal or Northern India over seven thousand years ago. Ancient texts recovered from the libraries of Ur describe cucumbers being eaten as a vegetable as early as 2600 BCE. Through trade, the cucumber spread from India and the Middle East into Europe, Africa, and eventually into China. Numerous written accounts describe how the Romans took great pains to develop methods to cultivate cucumbers specifically in order to make them available year round.

What the majority of people recognize as a “cucumber” is the unripe fruit of the plant. When ripe, the cucumber fruit turns a bright yellow, similar to some varieties of summer squash or zucchini. However, few people enjoy eating ripe cucumbers, as most varieties will have become too tough, and the taste too unpleasantly bitter to be palatable. In Chinese food therapy, however, the mature cucumber can be sliced and cooked in a soup to help combat lung dryness in Autumn.

Varieties of cucumbers are divided into three major groups. The first group is called “Slicing,” and refers to cucumber varieties grown to for slicing and eating fresh, these varieties are usually smooth, long and are almost always eaten unripe. American varieties of slicing cucumbers have fairly thick, bitter skin, and are large (one foot or longer), while other varieties are smaller, and have thinner, less bitter skin. The second group, perhaps the most commercially valuable of the three, comprise of the “Pickling” cucumbers, which are used for pickling, i.e., being soaked in vinegar, and or brine, or packed in spiced salt or sugar. Most varieties of pickling cucumbers, especially those grown for the pickle industry, are bred to be uniformly very small, usually no longer than 3 inches. While industrial varieties may be uniform in shape, garden varieties are very variable in shape. “Gherkins” are very small, sausage-shaped pickling cucumbers that feature extensively in Eastern European cuisine. The third main group is called “Burpless.” “Burpless” refers to any thin-skinned, sometimes seedless, often parthenogenic, varieties that are reputedly easier to digest, hence the name. The skin and seeds of cucumbers cause flatulence in some people. Burpless cucumbers are usually much larger than either slicing or pickling cucumber (often growing to two feet), but, otherwise can be used for either function.

Other varieties include “East Asian” cucumbers, which are very elongated cucumbers with thin, warty skin. These are often grown by Japanese and Chinese gardeners (sometimes called “Japanese cucumbers”), and are sliced or shredded, and then eaten either fresh in salads or h’ors d'oeuvres, or pickled in vinegar, salt or sugar. Indian cucumbers are often fairly tough, and are usually cut up and cooked in curries. Persian cucumbers, by contrast, are small and smooth-skinned and are often eaten raw chopped or sliced and added to (unflavored) yogurt.

As mentioned, the unripe fruit are eaten either raw, or pickled, or more rarely, cooked in soups, stews and curries. This holds true in Chinese cuisine, as well. Sometimes, very large cucumbers can be hollowed out and then stuffed with meat or other vegetables. Many people peel the skin before eating and cooking them in order to reduce or eliminate the bitterness. Cucumber is an excellent source of dietary silicon, though, calorically, cucumber is otherwise not very nutritious.

Medicinally, cucumbers have been used for reducing inflammation and resolving all manner of heat disorders (both internal, like acne caused by stomach fire, and external, such as resolving summer heat) for thousands of years by numerous civilizations. In China, cucumbers are often added to soups for helping to clear summer heat and or stomach fire. Cucumbers can be applied topically to help resolve skin rashes, eruptions, and all manner of minor burns, especially sunburns. Cucumbers are also used topically to rejuvenate dry or damaged skin.

The bitterness of cucumbers is caused by the presence of a toxin called “Curcubitacin C,” which is toxic to humans and other mammals in large quantities. The chemical’s presence can be detect even in harmless doses (such as in a garden-grown cucumber) through its bitter taste. It is highly unlikely that a human would be poisoned through eating cucumbers, as the amount necessary to cause harm, let alone kill, would render a cucumber noxiously unpalatable. Even so, one should take care about eating wild cucumbers, as some species of related cucumbers are so poisonous so as to cause immense harm merely through tasting them (to say nothing of those species which defend their fruits with sharp, needle-like prickles in addition to toxic levels of curcubitacin).

Because of the cucumber’s cooling energy and moisture-nourishing properties, patients with watery diarrhea, cold phlegm, damp, or cold damp syndromes should avoid eating cucumber.