Melon pear [2] , Pepino , or Sweet cucumber [3] ( lat. Solanum muricatum ) - an evergreen shrub of the Solanaceae family , originating from South America, grown for edible sweet fruits, reminiscent of melon in color and aroma , cucumber, pumpkin. Most widely cultivated in Peru , Chile and New Zealand .
| Melon pear |
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| International scientific name |
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Solanum muricatum Aiton , 1789 |
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Content
The first part of the book "
The Chronicle of Peru ", which first describes the pepino of South America (
1553 )
In 1553, pepino was first mentioned in literature - in the book " Chronicle of Peru " by Pedro Cesa de Leon :
In some places, in the absence of maize, they put in the ground the root of yucca, useful for making bread and drinks; and lots of sweet potato [batatas dulces] are grown, it tastes like chestnuts. And also there are several [types] of potatoes, and many beans, and other tasty roots. In all these valleys there is also one very peculiar fruit, of those that I saw, called "cucumbers" [Pepinos], very tasty, and some very fragrant.
- Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Chapter LXVI. [four]
Pepino is a perennial plant, which is a branched, semi-lignified shrub up to one and a half meters high with tasty and aromatic fruits. Pepino is grown in the middle lane in heated greenhouses or as a house plant on the windowsill in the conservatory.
Pepino fruits are very diverse, and differ from each other in size, shape, color and quality. Many of them have an exotic color - a bright yellow background with jagged purple strokes. The ripe fruit is yellow or colorless. It tastes sweet and sour and very juicy, as it is 92% water. The acidity of this fruit is given by vitamin C, which it contains. Pepino is rich in carotene , iron and pectin, a large number of vitamins A, B1, B2 and PP. The flowers of the new vegetable crop are most like potato. Stalk and leaves, like pepper.
Pepino is the ancient fruit culture of Peru. The plant came to Europe in 1785, and a hundred years later it reached Russia. In 1890, in St. Petersburg, at a regular agricultural exhibition, Alexander III praised the melon pear, and by his order pepino seeds were sent to all palace greenhouses. Until October 1917, the plant felt good on Russian soil, but then they forgot about it for many years, until the 1980s.
In the 1980s, a new interest in melon pear arose. Today in the world there are already twenty-five of its varieties. In Russia there are two varieties that are specially adapted to our conditions: “Consuelo” and “Ramses”.
Propagate pepino seeds and cuttings. They are germinated on moistened paper towels, covered with transparent bags, in the dark at a temperature of 26-28 degrees. Hatching seeds are transferred to a warm, bright place. When the cotyledons open, the seedlings dive.
But the easiest way to propagate a melon pear by rooting cuttings. They take root well, and begin to bear fruit earlier. Seedling care is the same as eggplant. Seedlings from the seeds until the end of February are exposed to 16-18 hours. Seedlings are planted in the heated greenhouse from the end of March - 3 plants per 1 sq.m. Once a week, she is fed with complex fertilizers. Useful foliar top dressing with diluted whey (1:10) with a solution of trace elements. Formation usually goes in one stalk. In order for the fruits to set, you need to shake the plants slightly.
The fruits ripen at different times: when they become the size of a goose egg and acquire a cream or pale yellow color, they are removed. Overripe melon pear becomes tasteless. Ripe fruits can be stored for several months at a temperature of 4-5 degrees.
Residents of Japan and South America make pepino fruit salads and desserts. In New Zealand, soups, sauces are prepared from it, and served with meat, fish and seafood. In addition, it can be salted, canned, dried, frozen, boiled jam, jams and compotes.
- ↑ 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 .
- ↑ Wulf, E.V. , Maleeva, O. F. World resources of useful plants / ed. ed. F. Kh. Bakhteev . - L .: Nauka, 1969 .-- S. 382. - 566 p.
- ↑ In Spanish, “pepino dulce” means “sweet cucumber.” And although the abbreviated name "pepino" becomes the common name for this fruit in English-speaking countries, in Spanish the name "pepino" refers only to cucumber.
- ↑ Pedro Cieza de Leon. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. (unspecified) . www.kuprienko.info (A. Skromnitsky) (July 24, 2008). Date of treatment November 12, 2012. Archived July 9, 2012.
- Melon Pear, or Peppino. Gidaspov N. // In the world of plants No. 2-3, 2000
- Pepino. Secrets and tips. // Household economy No. 9, 2001
- A melon pear grows near Moscow. Gidaspov N. // Science and Life No. 2, 1999