CUCUMBER : MEDICAL BENEFITS OF CUCUMBER - effective on Digestive, urinary and circulatory system

BENEFITS OF CUCUMBER

Cucumis melo var. utilissimus Duthie & Fuller

Syn. C.Utilissimus Roxb.

CUCUMBER

COMMON NAMES

Concombre (Fr.)

Cetriola (It.)

Gurke (Ger.)

Cucumis (Lat.)

Sikvos (Gr.)

Khiyar (Arab., & Pers.)

Qiththa (Quranic)

Kishium (Heb.)

Kakri (Hindi, Urdu)

Karkati (Sans.)

Ogurets (Russ.)

Pepino, Cohombro (Sp.)

Kankur (Beng.)

Kaakri (Mar., Guj.)

Mullu-dosikai(Tel.)

Mullvallarikai (Tam.)

Ville-Rika (Mal.)

FAMILY  :  Cucurbitaceae

Parts Used : Fruit, seeds and root.

System affected : Digestive, urinary and circulatory system.

Specific Action : Laxative, diuretic, galactagogue, vulnerary and tonic.

History

The cucumber is believed to be native of India, and evidence indicates that it has been cultivated western Asia for 3000 years. This has also been grown since ancient times in Arabia and Egypt. It can be safely sated that this was in common use during the time of Prophet Moses as it is  evident from Qur'an.

Botanical description

Fruit shortly oval or cylindrical to elongate. The colour varies from dark green to nearly white changing to orange when ripe.the seeds are smaller than the melon seeds. An annual, stems angular creeping, scabrous. Leaves about 7.5 cm in diameter, 5 angular, 3 to 7 lobed,scabrous on both surfaces and also with soft hairs and Petioles about 5 cm.

Medical Properties : 

Cucumbers are eaten raw as well as cooked. It contains as much as 90 percent moisture and 3 percent carbohydrates. Cucumbers have cooling properties, and are diuretic. These are highly valued for salad. 

There are three varieties of cucumber i.e. Sour, Bitter and Sweet.

Fruits - Used in fevers, thirst and biliousness; fattening.

Seeds - Purgative, anti puretic and diuretic; Allay thirst; improve complexion; enrich the blood.

Seed Oil - Oil from seeds is sweet, Good for brain and body and used in fever.

Root - Roots of sweet variety is emetic.

Nutritive Value

Proteins                        : 0.4 gm

Fat                                : 0.1 gm

Minerals                       : 0.3 gm

Crude Fibre                  : 0.4 gm

Carbohydrates              : 2.5 gm

Iron                               : 0.6 gm  

Calcium                        : 10.0 gm

Phosphorus                   : 25.0 gm

Values are per 100 gm of edible portion.

Source : Nutritive Value of Indian Foods.

              NIN, Hyderabad, 

Note : The information given is meant for educational purpose only

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About G A Moinuddin

Ahmed Moinuddin retired from his position as HR Manager in a top Indian Public Sector Organization. He holds Masters in Sciences and has versatile experience in managing people and departments. His passion is to share knowledge from the bucket of experiences he had over these years at personal and professional front.