The plant that produces the cucumber, which is an indispensable element of young salads and is eaten crunchy on its own, is from the Cucurbitaceae family. Its homeland is India and the Far East. The annual creeping herbaceous plant cucumber has a stem that can grow one or two meters above the ground; green, broad-split, hard and rough leaves; yellow flowers and clinging tendrils on its branches.
With the maturation of its flowers, it produces fruits in the summer months, with a more or less rough, hairy or slightly thorny grooved surface. The cucumber fruit, which is 20-25 cm long and has a dark green skin, has a crisp, juicy and refreshing flesh. It has many seeds in the middle. It can be eaten fresh or added to salads, and especially the small varieties called gherkins are pickled and consumed with pleasure.
There are many varieties of cucumber and a different species called gherkin (C. melo Var. Flexuosus). The fruits of gherkin are harder than cucumber and have hair on top. The grooves on them are in colors ranging from white to green. These fruits, which are 20-100 cm long, are flat or semicircular and curved. When fresh, gherkin is eaten like cucumber, but since it is less flavorful than cucumber, it is mostly consumed as pickle.
NUTRITIONAL VALUES The nutritional values contained by 100 g. fresh cucumber are as follows: 15 calories; 0.9 g. protein; 3.4 g. carbohydrates; 0 cholesterol; 0.1 g. fat; 0.5 g. fiber; 27 mg. phosphorus; 25 mg. calcium; 1.1 mg. iron; 6 mg. sodium; 160 mg. potassium; 11 mg. magnesium; 250 IU vitamin A: 0.03 mg. vitamin B1; 0.04 mg. vitamin B2; 0.2 mg. vitamin B3; 0.042 mg. vitamin B6; 67 mcg. folic acid and 11 mg. vitamin C.
BENEFITS TO OUR HEALTH
In addition to the nutritional values listed above;
Cucumber has a mild sedative effect.
Cucumber, which also has skin softening effects, is included in the composition of face masks and various beauty products. It is claimed that even just slicing it and applying its juicy surface to the face softens the skin.
