English Name: Cucumber
Botanical Name: Cucumis satirus
Yoruba Name: cùcumbèr
DESCRIPTION: A long cylinderical, dark green-skinned fruit and light green flesh usually eaten raw as salad.
ORIGIN: Cucumbers originated in India the 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 appeared in France in the 9th century, England in the 14th century and in North America in the mid-16th century.
The cucumber is believed to be native to India, and evidence indicates that it has been cultivated in western Asia for 3,000 years. Also listed among the foods of ancient Ur and the legend of Gilgamesh describes people eating cucumbers. Some sources also state that it was produced in the ancient Thrace, and it is part of the modern cuisine in Bulgaria and Turkey from India, it spread to Greece (where it was called “vilwos”) & Italy where the Romans were especially found of the crop and later into China. The fruit was also mentioned in the Bible (Numbers 11:5) as having been freely available in Egypt and also in Isaiah 1:8. Charlemagne had cucumbers grown in his garden in 19th century France.
It was reported to have entered England in the early 1300s Christopher Columbus the Spaniards bought cucumbers to Haiti in 1954. In 1535, Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, found “very great cucumbers” grown in the site of what is now Montreal.
NATURAL BENEFITS: Romans are reported to have used cucumbers to treat scorpion bites, bad eyesight, and to scare away mice.
USES: Eaten raw, used as salad, majorly used for food preparation and garnishing of fruit drink etc.
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