8/28/13 Cucumber nutrition facts and health benefits

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Cucumber nutrition facts

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Ever wonder how to beat the scorching summer heat? Just remember your humble crunchy cucumber !
Nut rit ion blog Nonetheless, this wonderful low calorie vegetable indeed has more nutrients to offer than just water and
electrolytes.
F ruit s
It is one of the oldest cultivated crops and believed to be originating in the northern plains of Indian
subcontinent. The plant is a creeper (vine) like other members of Cucurbita family, for example, gourds,
Ve ge t a ble s
squashes, melons, zucchini, etc.
Nut s a nd s e e ds Botanically; it belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family; and is known scientifically as Cucumis sativus.

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Cucumber is easy to grow. Varieties, varying in size, shape, and color, are cultivated all around the world. In
general, the fruit features dark-green skin, crispy moisture rich flesh, and small edible seeds concentrated at its
core.

[?] Subscribe As in other squash members, cucumbers too are best-harvested young, tender and just short of reaching
To This Site maturity, at the stage when they taste sweet, have crunchy texture, and unique flavor. If left uninterrupted,
the fruit continues to grow in size, its skin becomes tougher and turns yellow, and seeds become hard and
inedible. Fresh cucumbers are available throughout the season and can be eaten raw as is or in vegetable
salads or juicing.

Armenian cucumbers (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) are

long, crispy, and thin-ribbed, curved, and have light green
color. Although grouped botanically in the melon family, they
appear and taste just like cucumbers.

Miniature varieties such as gherkins, American-dills, and

French-cornichons are very small indeed and usually
preferred in pickling.

Dosakayi is a yellow Indian curry cucumber, has sweet

taste and neutral flavor. It is used extensively in the
Dosakayi-Indian curry preparation of stews and curries, particularly during the
Cucumis melo var. f lexuosus- cucumber. Salad (slicing)
A rmenian type. cucumber by side f or summer season in southern parts of India and Sri Lanka.
comparison.

Health benefits of Cucumber

It is one of the very low calorie vegetables; provide just 15 calories per 100 g. It contains no saturated
fats or cholesterol. Cucumber peel is a good source of dietary fiber that helps reduce constipation, and
offer some protection against colon cancers by eliminating toxic compounds from the gut.

It is a very good source of potassium, an important intracellular electrolyte. 100 g of cucumber provides
147 mg of potassium but only 2 mg of sodium. Potassium is a heart friendly electrolyte helps bring a
reduction in total blood pressure and heart rates by countering effects of sodium.

Cucumbers contains unique anti-oxidants in moderate ratios such as β-carotene and α-carotene, vitamin-
C, vitamin-A, zea-xanthin and lutein. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against
oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various
disease processes. Their total antioxidant strength, measured in terms of oxygen radical absorbance
capacity (ORAC value), is 214 µmol TE/100 g.

Cucumbers have mild diuretic property, which perhaps attributed to their free-water, and potassium and
low sodium content. This helps in checking weight gain and high blood pressure.

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8/28/13 Cucumber nutrition facts and health benefits
They surprisingly have a high amount of vitamin K, provides about 17 µg of this vitamin per 100 g.
Vitamin-K has been found to have a potential role in bone strength by promoting osteotrophic (bone mass
building) activity. It also has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting
neuronal damage in their brain.

See the table below for in depth analys is of nutrients :

Selection and storage C uc umber (Cucumis s ativus ), raw,

N utritive value per 1 0 0 g.
(Sourc e: U SD A N ational N utrient data bas e)
Nutrient Percentage of
Principle
Value RDA
E nergy 1 5 Kc al <1 %
C arbohydrates 3 .6 3 g 3%
P rotein 0 .6 5 g 1%
T otal Fat 0 .1 1 g 0 .5 %
C holes terol 0 mg 0%
D ietary Fiber 0 .5 g 1%
Vitamins
A rmenian cucumbers in a market. Folates 7 µg 2%
(Cucumis melo var. f lexuosus)
N iac in 0 .0 9 8 mg <1 %
P antothenic ac id 0 .2 5 9 mg 5%
Cucumbers are readily sold in the stores all around the
P yridoxine 0 .0 4 0 mg 3%
season. Fresh varieties, depending upon the cultivar type
Riboflavin 0 .0 3 3 mg 3%
and region, as well as preserved, pre-processed, and
T hiamin 0 .0 2 7 mg 2%
pickled are also made available in these stores.
V itamin A 105 IU 3 .5 %

In the store, buy fresh ones that feature bright green color, V itamin C 2 .8 mg 4 .5 %
firm and stout in texture. Look for spots, cuts or breaks V itamin E 0 .0 3 mg 0%
over its surface. Do not buy overly matured or yellow V itamin K 1 6 .4 µg 1 3 .6 %
colored since they tend to contain more insoluble fiber and Electrolytes
mature seeds. Furthermore, avoid those with wrinkled ends Sodium 2 mg 0%
as they indicate old stock and state of de-hydration. Go for
P otas s ium 1 4 7 mg 3%
organically grown products to get rich flavor and nutrient
Minerals
content.
C alc ium 1 6 mg 1 .6 %

Once at home, they should be washed thoroughly in clean I ron 0 .2 8 mg 3 .5 %

water to rid off any surface dust and pesticides. The skin M agnes ium 1 3 mg 3%
comes in a variety of colors and often with tiny spikes that M anganes e 0 .0 7 9 mg 3 .5 %
should be rubbed off easily. Do not discard the peel as it P hos phorus 2 4 mg 3%
has vital minerals, phyto-chemicals, and fiber. P hos phorus
Zinc 0 .2 0 mg 2%
To store, keep them at room temperature for a day or two, Phyto-nutrients
but better stored inside the refrigerator set at high relative
C arotene- β 4 5 µg --
humidity where they stay fresh for several days.
C rypto- xanthin- β 2 6 µg --
L utein- zeaxanthin 2 3 µg --

Preparation and serving methods

Wash them thoroughly in cold running water just before use. Sometimes, they may require light scrub at places
where prickles or dirt attached firmly. Trim both ends using sharp knife and rub the ends to remove sticky, off-
white, fluid like oozing substance in order to lessen bitter taste of either ends. Cut into cubes, slices, etc., as
you may desire.

Here are some serving tips:

Fresh, clean cucumbers may be enjoyed as they are without any additions.

Its cubes are a great addition to vegetable/fruit salads.

Indian yellow curry-cucumber (dosakayi) is used widely in a variety of curry and

stew preparations in south India with added buttermilk and yogurt.

Finely chopped fresh slices mixed with yogurt, cumin, coriander, pepper, and salt
to make Indian cucumber raita.

Cucumber juice is a very good health drink.

With watermelon cubes, f ruit-
vegetable salad!
Fine slices also added in delicious Spanish cold tomato and cucumber soup,
gazpacho.

Gherkin and rind of other varieties have been also used in the preparation of pickles.

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8/28/13 Cucumber nutrition facts and health benefits

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Further Resources:

1. USDA National Nutrient Database.

2. Stanford School of Medicine C ancer information Page- Nutrition to Reduce C ancer Risk

3. Vegetable information page- University of Illinois extension.

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