Edible chayote ( lat. Sechium edule ) ( Spanish: chayote ) or Mexican cucumber [2] is an edible plant from the genus Sechium of the family Pumpkin ( Cucurbitaceae ).
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Sechium edule ( Jacq. ) Sw. | |||||||||||||||||||||
An ancient cultivated plant, also known to the Aztecs , Mayans and other Indian tribes. Central America is considered to be its native land [3] ; it is cultivated in various countries with a tropical and subtropical climate. The main supplier of chayote is the Republic of Costa Rica .
Content
Title
The name " chayotli " comes from the Astekian language .
Botanical Description
Perennial monoecious climbing plant with shoots reaching a length of 20 meters. Shoots slightly pubescent, with longitudinal grooves, cling to the support with antennae. Forms up to 10 root tubers weighing up to 10 kg. The color of the tuber varies from dark green to light green or yellow, almost white. The pulp is white in color, in texture resembles a potato or cucumber.
The leaves are widely rounded with a heart-shaped base, up to 10-25 cm in length, with 3–7 blunt lobes, covered with stiff hairs. Petioles of leaves can be of various lengths, from 4 to 25 cm.
The flowers are unisexual, greenish or cream in color, a corolla with a diameter of about 1 cm. Female flowers are single, male flowers are collected in racemose inflorescences.
Fruits - pear-shaped or rounded berries 7-20 cm long, weighing up to a kilogram, with one large (3-5 cm) white flat-oval seed. Their peel is thin, strong, shiny, there may be small growths, as well as longitudinal grooves. Coloring from whitish to light yellow or green. The pulp is whitish green, juicy, sweet taste, rich in starch.
Usage
All parts of the tea tree are edible, even the leaves and tops of the shoots (young), which can be eaten stewed, but most often unripe fruits are used for food, which are boiled, stewed, baked, stuffed or added raw to salads. The pulp of the fruit is added to the bakery products. Seeds eat fried, they have a nutty flavor. The tubers are rich in starch (up to 20%), they can be cooked in the same way as potatoes [3] .
Old tubers and tops are used for livestock feed. After processing, beautiful silver fibers are obtained from the stems, from which headwear and other products are woven [4] .
The vegetable and its seeds are rich in amino acids and vitamin C. Leaves and tuber have diuretic, anti-inflammatory properties. It can be used in the form of tea in the treatment of atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, as well as for the removal of kidney stones.
Cultivation
Chayote is light and moisture-loving, very picky about heat, prefers nutrient-rich soils. It is grown in the tropics as a perennial plant, in countries with a cooler climate - as an annual plant. Propagate it by seeds (plant the whole ripe fruit, the seed germinates inside it), sometimes vegetatively by stem cuttings. The fruits ripen 3-5 months after sowing. The plant is fruitful; 50–80 fruits are harvested from one 3-5-year-old plant [5] .
Literature
- Mazurenko M.T. Mexican cucumber // Garden. 1959. No. 6. S. 24-25.
- Science and Life No. 9, 1999 "Mexican Cucumber"
Links
Notes
- ↑ For the conventionality of specifying the class of dicotyledons as a superior taxon for the plant group described in this article, see the APG Systems section of the Dicotyledonous article .
- ↑ 925. Sechium P. Br. - Chayot , Wulf E.V., Maleeva O.F.// World resources of useful plants / L .: Nauka, 1969. - 568 p.
- ↑ 1 2 Novak B., Schulz B. Tropical fruits. Biology, application, cultivation and harvesting / Per. with him. - M .: BMM AO, 2002. - S. 55-56. - 240 p. - ISBN 5-88353-133-4 .
- ↑ Plant life. In 6 t. / Ch. ed. Corr. USSR Academy of Sciences, prof. Al A. Fedorov. - M .: Enlightenment, 1981. - T. 5, Part 2. Flowering plants. Ed. A. L. Takhtadzhyana. - S. 59.
- ↑ World of cultivated plants. Reference / Baranov V.D., Ustimenko G.V. - M .: Thought, 1994. - P. 226. - 381 p. - ISBN 5-244-00494-8 .