Wax gourd
| Wax gourd | ||||||||||||
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Wax gourd ( Benincasa hispida ), illustration |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Benincasa | ||||||||||||
| Savi | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Benincasa hispida | ||||||||||||
| ( Thunb. ) Cogn. |
The wax gourd ( Benincasa hispida ), and winter melon called, is a species of the family of cucurbits (Cucurbitaceae), whose fruits in Asia and vegetables are used. It is perhaps the only species in the Benincasa genus .
features
The species forms long and branched lianas . The shoot axes are hairy more or less long-bristled, the more or less hairy tendrils are two- or three-part, they arise at the nodes.
The simple and alternate leaves are often more or less lobed or whole as well as heart- to arrow-shaped and long-stalked. The robust petioles are up to 20 centimeters long and bristly. The broad-egg-shaped, pointed and below dense, on the upper side sparse, bristly leaf blades are up to 20-25 centimeters long and wide. The edge is notched or sawn to finer or coarser serrated and the veins are palmate. After being crushed, they give off an unpleasant odor. The stipules missing, there are small "Probrakteen" (Probracts) available.
The plants are monoecious , male and female flowers are single and axillary. The five-fold and functionally unisexual, large flowers have a double flower envelope . The male flowers are long stalked, the female are shorter stalked and the flower stalks are hairy with bristles. The soft hairy hypanthium of the flowers is flat, cup-shaped. The flowers are noticeably large and yellow. The narrow-triangular or triangular and lobed to coarsely toothed tips of the sepals are softly haired and up to 10-12 millimeters long. The obovate and inside fine, outside longer hairy petals are almost free and up to 5 centimeters long. The 5 short stamens are free, 4 are fused in pairs, one is free. The dense and long, hairy weichborstig ovary of the female flowers is inferior, below the flower cup with short stylus and lobed, wavy scar . The female flowers often have small staminodes with antherodes, while the male can have a reduced pestle. There is one hairy discus each.
The almost bare, multi-seeded fruits , berries (armored berries , false fruit ) are 20 to over 60 centimeters long and have a thick, more or less waxy cuticle , from which the common name "wax melon" is derived. The skin of the fruit is hard and dry and the whitish wax sits on it . Young fruits are hairy and then bald.
With cultivated varieties, the fruits can weigh up to 40 kilograms. The shape is different depending on the cultivar , there are elongated ones that can be over a meter long, but also smaller, ellipsoidal to more or less egg-shaped, spherical or kidney-shaped forms. The color is green with fewer or more light spots. The flesh is white, crisp and juicy. The water content is around 96%, the carbohydrate content is very low. The fruits are also called "winter melons" because they can be stored for up to a year. The many, somewhat flattened, egg-shaped and beige seeds are up to 1–1.5 centimeters long.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24.
Systematics
Within the family, the genus Benincasa is placed in the subfamily Cucurbitoideae and in the tribe Benincaseae. The next related genus is Praecitrullus .
The genus was named in 1818 by Gaetano Savi after an Italian Count Benincasa, a promoter of botany. The specific epithet hispida refers to the hairy leaves and fruits. Previously, the species from Thunberg had been placed as Cucurbita hispida with the pumpkins ( Cucurbita ).
Distribution and cultivation
The wax gourd is grown today in large parts of South, Southeast and East Asia , especially in China , India and the Philippines . It is grown by immigrants in Latin America and the Caribbean . The origin of the species was assumed to be in Southeast Asia, small fruited wild populations ( Benincasa hispida var. Pruriens , Syn .: Benincasa pruriens (Seem.) WJ de Wilde & Duyfjes ) were found in southern China , Indonesia , Japan, Australia and some South Pacific islands. The species has been cultivated for at least 2300 years. Papua New Guinea , the Solomon Islands and Queensland are considered the area of origin .
The wax gourd thrives best in warm (over 25 ° C), sunny and moderately dry areas of the tropics below 1500 m above sea level. Due to its rapid growth, however, it can also be grown in moderate latitudes. Two harvests per year are possible in the tropics.
In the garden, the plants are grown on house walls, on bamboo frames or on trees. In commercial cultivation, they are grown on the ground or on trellises . The wax gourd is relatively drought tolerant, but will need watering after a week or two of drought.
Unripe fruits are harvested around a week after flowering, ripe fruits after two to three months. In the trellis construction, around two kilograms of seeds are sown per hectare, which results in around 8,000 plants. The harvest is then up to 20 tons.
The wax gourd is relatively insensitive to diseases and pests. Since it is also insensitive to soil diseases, it is sometimes used as a grafting pad .
use
Both ripe and unripe fruits are eaten raw, cooked or canned. In China, ripe fruits are processed into soup, among other things. The hollowed-out bark decorated with carvings is used as a soup bowl on festive occasions. In India, the fruits are cut into pieces, cooked in sugar syrup and processed into a confectionery called petha . Here it is sometimes presented as a lucky charm at weddings. In Vietnam , where the fruit is called Bí đao , it is made into a popular stir-fry dish ( Bí đao xào ) together with garlic, onion, cabbage and fish sauce .
Young leaves, tendril tips and flower buds are cooked and consumed as vegetables. Seeds, fruits, leaves and roots are used in various ways as medicinal products in South and East Asia, for example in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and in Indian Ayurveda. According to TCM, Dong Gua (冬瓜) is said to have a diuretic, blood sugar lowering, blood pressure lowering and anti-inflammatory effect. Dong Gua preparations are used to treat gastric ulcers caused by stress and are intended to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and gastric ulcer disease. The essential fatty acids from the seed oil are said to make the skin soft and supple, while other active ingredients contained are supposed to ward off fever and worm infestation.
The wax, which continues to form after the harvest, is sometimes used to make candles.
literature
- RW Robinson, DS Decker-Walters: Cucurbits. CAB International, Wallingford 1997, ISBN 0-85199-133-5 , pp. 101-105.
- HD Tindall: Vegetables in the Tropics. 1983, ISBN 978-0-333-24268-1 (reprint), p. 147 ff.
- TK Lim: Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants. Volume 2: Fruits , Springer, ISBN 978-94-007-1763-3 , pp. 164-178.
- K. Kubitzki : The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Vol. X: Flowering Plants Eudicots , Springer, 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-14396-0 , p. 157 f.
- Shiu-ying Hu: Food Plants of China. Chinese Univ. Press, 2005, ISBN 962-201-860-2 , Figs. 54, 55 (illustration).
- A. Engler : The plant kingdom. IV. 275 II., Engelmann, 1924, pp. 163-168, online at biodiversitylibrary.org.
Web links
- Benincasa hispida at Useful Tropical Plants.
- Benincasa hispida at PROTA.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Benincasa hispida at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis.
- ↑ Alexander Kocyan, Li-Bing Zhang, Hanno Schaefer, Susanne S. Renner: A multi-locus chloroplast phylogeny for the Cucurbitaceae and its implications for character evolution and classification. In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Volume 44, 2007, pp. 553-577, doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2006.12.022 .
- ↑ Benincasa in Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved January 17, 2017.