Vegetable - Cucumber - Other Tips

Cucumber

Cooking Tips :

1. Selection:
   • Look for cucumbers with a bright, even colour of skin without dullness or sweating. The cucumber should look fresh.
   • A good cucumber is firm and does not bend. This firmness should be right through to the tips of the cucumber.
   • Smaller cucumbers are crisper and have finer seeds, making them more appealing to many people, especially kids.
   • Avoid cucumbers with blemishes, soft spots, yellowing, or easily bent.
2. Storage :Given the high water content of cucumbers, they are best consumed within days of picking. Avoid storing near fruit, as this will cause cucumbers to yellow and deteriorate quickly.

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Vegetable - Cucumber - Nutrition Facts

Cucumber

Vitamins & Minerals :

Vitamins	Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C),is available from cucumbers .It also contains several other vitamins like vitamin B12 and folate .A peeled cucumber holds around 14.5 mcg of vitamin K or around 13% of what the average adults needs daily.Cucumber also contains several other vitamins in smaller amounts.
Minerals	It contains small amounts of other minerals like Potassium, Phosphorous, Magnesium, Sodium, Calcium and other minerals in small amounts.

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Vegetable - Cucumber - Health Benefits

Cucumber

1. Rehydrates body and replenishes daily vitamins : Cucumbers are 95 percent water, keeping the body hydrated while helping the body eliminate toxins. Cucumbers have most of the vitamins the body needs in a single day.
2. Fight cancers :Cucumber are known to contain lariciresinol, pinoresinol, and secoisolariciresinol. These three lignans have a strong history of research in connection with reduced risk of several cancer types, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer and prostate cancer.
3. Quick pick me-up :Cucumbers are a good source of B vitamins. Put down your sodas and coffee and eat a cucumber slice.
4. Skin and hair care :If you don't like to eat the skin, it can be used for skin irritations and sunburns as aloe would be used. Place a slice over puffy eyes and its anti-inflammatory properties help reduce puffiness. The silicon and sulfur in cucumbers help to stimulate hair growth.
5. Cures diabetes, reduces cholesterol and controls blood pressure :Cucumber juice contains a hormone which is needed by the cells of the pancreas for producing insulin which has been found to be beneficial to diabetic patients. Researchers found that a compound called sterols in cucumbers may help reduce cholesterol levels. Cucumbers contain a lot of potassium, magnesium and fiber. These work effectively for regulating blood pressure. This makes cucumbers good for treating both low blood pressure and high blood pressure.
6. Weight loss and digestion :Due to its low calorie and high water content, cucumber is an ideal diet for people who are looking for weight loss. The high water content and dietary fiber in cucumbers are very effective in ridding the body of toxins from the digestive system, aiding digestion. Daily consumption of cucumbers can be regarded as a remedy for chronic constipation.
7. Hangover cure :To avoid a morning hangover or headache; eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish many essential nutrients, reducing the intensity of both hangover and headache.
8. Relieves bad breath :Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.
9. Folate :There is around 28 mcg of folate or 7 percent of the daily required intake within each medium cucumber. Together, vitamin B12 and folate help the body build red blood cells. Folate also supports the synthesis of DNA and can help to prevent birth defects, including spina bifida.
10. Vitamin C :Ascorbic acid, also called vitamin C, is available from cucumbers. Vitamin C is necessary for the formation of strong ligaments, tendons and other connective tissues and helps to build strong cell walls during growth and healing. According to Colorado State University, vitamin C also serves as an anti-oxidant, which helps to eliminate harmful chemicals from the body. A single medium cucumber, without the peel, has about 6.4 mg of vitamin C, which equals around 8 percent of the amount the body requires each day.

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Vegetable - Cucumber - Beauty Tips

Cucumber

1. Removes dark circles around eyes :Cucumber helps a great deal in fading the nagging dark circles around your eyes. Just rub cucumber slices on your dark circles or apply the juice of cucumber around your eyes. Wash off after 10 minutes. Your dark circles will start reducing gradually on continuous use.
2. Skin care :Grate a cucumber and squeeze it to extract the juice. Dab cucumber juice on your skin. It will take 15 minutes for cucumber juice to seep into your skin. Then wash with fresh water. Cucumber helps a great deal to whiten and brighten your skin if you use it regularly.
3. Facial care :You can make an excellent toner out of the juice of cucumber. You can either blend it with lemon juice, egg white, aloe vera, honey or tomato. Cucumber juice alone is a wonderful face toner. Just apply fresh cucumber juice on your face for ten minutes. Wash off to reveal a brighter and sparkling fresh complexion in jiffy.
4. Removes acne :Mix cucumber juice and lemon juice in equal amount; apply this mix on your acne and acne marks. This magical home remedy is very helpful in removing acne and its ugly scars.

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Vegetable - Cucumber - Allergies

Cucumber

1. Allergies in mouth :Swelling or hives around your mouth, throat and tongue commonly occur with oral allergy syndrome. You may also experience itchy skin. If you have an allergy to ragweed, cucumbers may also cause allergic reactions.
2. Indigestion :Traditional cucumbers contain a compound called cucurbitacin, which provokes indigestion in some people.

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Vegetables - Varieties - Cucumber

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Vegetable - Cucumber

Cucumber

Health Benefits Nutrition Facts Beauty tips Naming Convention Varieties Recipes Carvings & Art Beauty Allergies Other tips

About the Vegetable :Cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae. As in other squash members, cucumbers too are best-harvested young, tender and just short of reaching maturity; at the stage when they taste sweet, have crunchy texture, and unique flavor. If left uninterrupted, the fruit continues to grow in size, its skin becomes tougher and turns yellow, and seeds become hard and inedible. Fresh cucumbers are available throughout the season and can be eaten raw, in vegetable salads or juicing.It is a creeping vine that bears cylindrical fruits that are used as culinary vegetables. There are three main varieties of cucumber: slicing, pickling, and burpless. 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. The plant has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruit. The fruit of the cucumber is roughly cylindrical. Cucumbers are usually more than 90% water.

Scientific / Binomial name : Cucumis sativus

Popularly Known as :Keera, Dosakaya, Chothekayi.

Usage :

• Mostly used in Salads. In India,it is used for even for making pickles.
• Every where it is used as a Salad Vegetable.