Horned cucumber
| Horned cucumber | ||||||||||||
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Horned cucumber ( Cucumis metuliferus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cucumis metuliferus | ||||||||||||
| E. Mey. ex Naudin |
The horned cucumber or horned melon ( Cucumis metuliferus ) is a species of the cucurbit family (Cucurbitaceae). Its fruits are known in Europe under the trademark Kiwano .
features
The horned cucumber is an annual climbing plant that spreads about 3 meters. The stems are stiff and ribbed.
The alternate, three to five-lobed or unlobed, simple and long-stemmed leaves are similar to those of the cucumber . They are egg-shaped or heart-shaped in outline, about 10-14 centimeters long and finely toothed on the edge, rounded to pointed at the tip and on the lobes and bristly on the underside. The simple, thin tendrils are up to 10 centimeters long. The petiole is up to 6-12 centimeters long and hairy with bristles and the stipules are missing. The nerve is palmate.
The horn cucumber is monoecious mixed-sex monoecious . The unisexual, stalked and yellow flowers are five-fold with a double flower envelope. The flower stalks are stiff haired. The male flowers appear in small groups a few days before the female ones appear individually. The narrow, priemlichen, small and upright sepals and the flower cup are stiff-haired. The yellow crown, with the five petals fused at the base, is hairy, finer inside than outside. The ovary is subordinate and sits below the flower cup, the stigma is three-lobed. The male flowers have a pistillode and three short stamens , and the female have staminodes.
The prickly, multi-seeded fruits ( false fruit ) reach their maximum weight around a month after fertilization, in the following two weeks they become sweeter and orange and reach maturity. The thick-skinned fruits are then 10 to 15 centimeters long and ellipsoid. The firm spines on the surface have a broad base and are around an inch long. When the fruit ripens, the fruits are orange-yellow to green-brownish, the inside is green and watery-juicy. The taste is described as a combination of bananas, lemons and passion fruit , again by others as stale and astringent . Fruits from wild plants taste bitter. The small, 5–8 millimeters long, fine-haired seeds are whitish, flattened and egg-shaped.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24.
distribution
The Horngurke is in semi-arid areas of southern and central Africa endemic . It grows there at low sea levels. Today it is cultivated in many countries. In Queensland , the horned cucumber has feral and is now classified as an invasive plant .
Cultivation
The horn cucumber is grown in New Zealand and Israel for export to Europe and the USA. New Zealand Horn cucumbers are under the trademark marketed Kiwano. The long shelf life of the fruits of up to a few months is beneficial for export.
The cultivation is similar to that of the sugar melon . The time between sowing and harvest is three and a half months in Israel.
The yield can be over 46 tons of fruit per hectare and harvest. The plants are resistant to some typical virus diseases of the cucurbits.
Nutrient content - vitamins and trace elements
The horn cucumber contains the following nutrients, vitamins and trace elements:
| Nutritional table | Horned melon, raw (100g) | |||
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| Energy: 183 kJ | Water: 88.97 g | Protein: 1.78 g | Fat: 1.26 g | Carbohydrates: 7.56 g |
| Calcium: 13 mg | Iron: 1.13 mg | Magnesium: 40 mg | Phosphorus: 37 mg | Potassium: 123 mg |
| Sodium: 2 mg | Zinc: 0.48 mg | Copper: 0.020 mg | Manganese: 0.039 mg | |
| Vitamin C : 5.3 mg | Thiamine : 0.025 mg | Pantothenic acid : 0.183 mg | Vitamin B6 : 0.063 mg | Folic acid : 3 µg |
| Riboflavin : 0.015 mg | Niacin : 0.565 mg | Vitamin A : 7 µg | Beta carotene : 88 µg |
literature
- RW Robinson, DS Decker-Walters: Cucurbits. CABI, Wallingford 1997, ISBN 0-85199-133-5 , p. 60.
- Aliza Benzioni: Kiwano. New Crop FactSheet 1997 , Purdue University (accessed April 3, 2008).
Web links
- Cucumis metulifer at Useful Tropical Plants.
- Cucumis metuliferus at PROTA.
- Cucumis metuliferus from PlantzAfrica, accessed September 8, 2019.
- Cultivation of Kiwano & further information at Tropenland.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Horned Melon (Kiwano) USDA, National Nutrient Database.