CUCUMBER

The history of cucumber

Cucumber originated in India. Large genetic variety of cucumber has been observed in different parts of India. The cucumber has been cultivated for at least 3,000 years in Western Asia, and was probably introduced to other parts of Europe by the Romans. Records of cucumber cultivation appear in France in the 9th century, England in the 14th century, and in North America by the mid-16th century.

In the Middle Ages; Charlemagne had cucumbers grown in his gardens in ninth-century France. They were reportedly introduced into England in the early 1300s, lost, then reintroduced approximately 250 years later.

Christopher Columbus Brings Cucumbers to the New World.

The Spaniards (in the person of Christopher Columbus) brought cucumbers to Haiti in 1494. In 1535, Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, found “very great cucumbers” grown on the site of what is now Montreal. (http://www.kitchenproject.com)

The contents of cucumber (per 100 gm.)

• Vitamin A 180 I.U.
• Niacin Trace
• Vitamin C 9 mg.
• Calcium 32 mg.
• Iron 1.8 mg.
• Phosphorus 27 mg.
• Potassium 80 mg.
• Carbohydrates 17 gm.
• Calories 70

The benefits of cucumber :

• Cucumber is best natural diuretic known, secreting and promoting the flow of urine.
• Helps in kidney and urinary bladder disease.
• Liver disease
• Pancreatic disease