Kiwano

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Kiwano (lat. Cucumis metulifer) - belonging to the family Pumpkin herbaceous vine, the fruits of which are called horned melon or African cucumber. This culture is considered both vegetable and decorative.

Description

Kiwano can grow up to three to six meters in length and is a graceful vine, capable of branching into a huge number of faceted thin stems. Despite the fact that these stems are very thin, they are truly incredible strength.

Kiwano leaves are similar to cucumber leaves, only their size is usually slightly smaller. All leaves have a characteristic hard pubescence and five lobes. When growing this culture, special nets are stretched around, which over time are actively filled with foliage.

Kiwano flowering bushes are abundantly covered along their entire length with miniature yellow flowers. In the morning, these flowers open, but you can only admire them enough until noon.

The fruits of this plant have the appearance of a miniature oval melon, the leathery, tough and inedible rind of which is covered with soft thorns. They can be reddish, orange, or yellow. The jelly-like pulp of this fruit is colored in greenish tones and is densely dotted with pale green or white seeds, the length of which can reach one centimeter. And the length of the fruits themselves usually does not exceed fifteen centimeters. By the way, their inner parts are divided into several sectors with the help of soft veins and partitions.

Kiwano fruit tastes like a banana, cucumber or melon. True, some gourmets claim that these fruits taste like avocado and kiwi with lime. And outwardly they are somewhat similar to chestnuts. If you provide the kiwano thickets with proper care, then about a couple of hundred fruits can be harvested from one plant per season.

Where grows

Kiwano is mainly cultivated in Israel, New Zealand, Central America and California. Also, the main distribution area of this culture is the tropical and subtropical countries of distant South America and hot South Africa.

Application

Kiwano can be eaten both sweet (in compotes, jams, etc.) and salted (these fruits are pickled in almost the same way as cucumbers). These fruits are a great addition to salads - they are especially good if you mix their pulp with pepper and salt in lemon juice. In short, Kiwano can be safely used not only as a fruit, but also as a vegetable. And the interesting appearance of the fruits makes them an excellent decoration for a wide variety of dishes.

Kiwano is often added to all kinds of fruit drinks, as well as milk or fruit cocktails. By the way, this fruit itself contains a lot of water - for every 100 g of its weight of water there are approximately 88, 97 g.

And since this fruit is low in calories, it is actively used in various diets aimed at weight loss, as well as in medical dietary nutrition. As a rule, per 100 g of fruit, the calorie content does not exceed 44 kcal.

Kiwano is very rich in various trace elements and vitamins, so it is rightfully considered an excellent source of useful compounds. This fruit is especially useful in cold seasons. Due to the presence of B vitamins and vitamin C, Kiwano is an excellent tonic. And these fruits will not hurt to use people suffering from gastrointestinal and cardiovascular ailments. As for Kiwano juice, it is an irreplaceable assistant in the healing of wounds and burns.

Kiwano is also widely used in cosmetology: it is an integral part of many body and face masks. Kiwano juice has proven itself especially well, which is often combined with yogurt, as well as with honey and other components no less useful for the skin.