A cucumber is the edible fruit of the cucumber plant Cucumis sativus, which belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, as clean melons and squash. A plant has been cultivated for 3000 years & is widely cultivated now. a cucumber plant has big leaves that form a canopy on top the fruit. A vine is grown inside the ground or even on treillage, typically in glasshouse.

A fruit is unremarkably harvested spell however green, & eaten as a vegetable, whether raw, cooked, or even processed into pickled cucumbers. Although less nutritious than most fruit, the freshly cucumber is however a an expert source of vitamin C, vitamin K, and potassium, and as well will bring occasionally dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin B6, thiamin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and manganese. A pickling run removes or even degrades good deal of the nourishing content, especially that of vitamin C.

Cucumbers come normally green-skinned, about cylindrical, elongated, using tapered finishes, & can be when big when Xxx cm yearn & Quintet cm from side to side. Cucumbers grown to become eaten freshly (known as slicers) & people meant for pickling (called picklers) come similar. Slicers grown commercially for the Northerly Western market come typically yearn, smoother, other uniform around color, & have a tougher skin. Slicers inside other countries come little & have a thinly, more delicate skin. Picklers come usually shorter & thicker.

Flowering and pollination

Two or three varieties of cucumber come parthenocarpic, the blossoms creating seedless fruit while forgoing pollination. Pollenation for these varieties degrades a quality. around the Usa, which are actually unremarkably grown in greenhouses, where bees come excluded. Withinside Europe, it is grown outside in a select few regions, & bees come excluded from either these areas. Virtually all cucumber varieties but, come seeded & involve pollenation. Hundreds to thousands of hives of bees are annually carried to cucumber fields just prior to bloom for the purpose. Cucumbers can besides become pollinated by flies.

Illness of poor pollenation include fruit abortion & malformed fruit. Partly pollinated flowers can produce fruit which are then green & acquire usually touching a stem prevent, however straw & withered at a blossom prevent.

Traditional varieties create male blossoms number one, so female, within astir tantamount prices. Recently gynoecious hybrid cultivars produce near altogether female blossoms. Notwithstanding, since these varieties don't provide pollen, they must keep around interplanted the pollenizer variety and the total of beehives by the unit region is increased. Insecticide applications for insect pests must exist as done super carefully to make sure your not killing off a insect pollinators.

These are claimed that a seeds potty induce occasionally population to burp, though there are also information to this existence from either bitterness of the skin. Burpless varieties come available.

Cucumbers come utilized in the ornamental food art, garde manger.

Other plants called cucumbers

Several varieties of Cucumis melo, which come then technically melons, are ordinarily known when--& grown & utilized as--"cucumbers", notably a thus-supposed Armenian Cucumber. In North America "wild cucumber" refers to manroot.