Why? Like tomato and pepper seeds, cucumber seeds add excess moisture to recipes if they're left intact. This can cause your crunchy cucumber salad boats or cheese-stuffed cuke snacks to get soggy.
Recipes that call for a seeded cucumber are usually looking for that light fresh taste that comes from the inside of the cucumber. The seeds can also add too much additional moisture to recipes if they're left intact, and the seeds in large, very mature cucumbers are just plain unpleasant to consume.
While edible in theory, if cucumbers are hollow inside, they may be slightly bitter and certainly won't win any blue ribbons. Hollow cucumbers, or any hollow fruit, result from a combination of lacking nutrient absorption or surplus, irregular watering, and/or inadequate pollination.
The inner part of a cucumber is called the flesh; this is the soft, light green mass inside the peel. The centre part of a cucumber contains seeds. Some cucumber varieties do not have any seeds.
Is it safe to eat hollow cucumbers? Well, sure. They're just underdeveloped, not carrying bacteria or pickleworms, or anything like that.
The inside of a cucumber can be 20 degrees F cooler than the temperature of its' surrounding. Cucumbers contain 90% water, so they have a cooling sensation. Some writer from the early 1600s once wrote that the women were “cold as cowcumbers” and it just sorta stuck.
The peel and seeds are the most nutrient-dense parts of the cucumber. They contain fiber and beta-carotene. "Beta carotene is an antioxidant that helps with immunity, skin, eye and the prevention of cancer," said Lemond.
Fortunately, the predator-foiling cucurbitacins tend to gather in the peel and ends of a cucumber, and therefore should be easy to avoid: just don't eat the peel and ends.
But, eating cucumber with meals can cause indigestion for some people because of the compound called cucurbitacin (class of biochemical compounds). Also, cucumbers must always be eaten with its skin on after it is washed thoroughly.”
As a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) share a lot of the same characteristics as their squash cousins. This includes being the perfect top-to-tail plant where the sprouts, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit are all edible.
What you see: Three tiny holes around the cucumber seeds, as if they're arranged in a perfect triangle. What it is: While a cucumber appears as a single, solid entity, it is made up of three segments; in this case, the segments aren't fully connecting, leaving those holes.
Cucumbers are high in antioxidants and other nutrients. By adding them to water, they make a glass of water more nutritious and antioxidant-rich. Cucumbers are rich in the following antioxidants : calcium.
“Eating just one cucumber a day can be great! It mostly contains water. So, even if you were to eat more than one, it won't cause any harm. In fact, it will keep you full and help you avoid reaching out for any junk food,” said nutritionist Manisha Chopra.
You can eat the peel of a cucumber. In fact, it will add fiber and vitamin A to your diet. Just be sure to wash the cucumber first. When you shop for cucumbers, skip ones that are yellow, puffy, or have sunk-in areas, bulges, or wrinkled ends.
Which one should you choose? Tomatoes are higher in immune-boosting vitamin C than cucumbers. They are a good source of vitamin K, which ensures that blood can clot so wounds heal properly.
Cucumber: It is best to eat cucumbers raw as cooking reduces the nutritional content of this vegetable.
The carotene present in carrots also fights anemia and helps in increasing the number of red blood cells. Cucumbers on the other hand are good sources of phytonutrients such as flavonoids, lignans and triterpenes. They have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits.
You can eat these small ripe fruits, which taste like a slightly sour cucumber, raw with the peel on. Since the vine produces new fruits regularly, it is common to find both ripe and unripe fruits on the same vine.
Apparently when cucumbers are stored for over 3 days at temperatures below 10 Celsius, they'll get cold injury: wateriness, pitting, and faster decay. So it is best to store them in a cupboard. Fun fact: Cucumbers are sensitive to ethylene gas, which is put off by some ripening fruits and vegetables.
According to the botanical definition, then, cucumbers are considered fruits. You might not think of cucumbers as fruit, but in botanical terms they have more in common with melons such as cantaloupe and watermelon than with other vegetables.
Belly rot is caused by the soilborne fungus Rhizoctonia solani, and can be a serious problem on cucumbers grown for pickling. The disease is most damaging to cucumber, but the pathogen can attack all cucurbits to some degree. R. solani is a very common soil inhabitant and invades cucumbers in contact with soil.