Sometimes cucumbers look beautiful but are bitter in taste. This problem mainly concerns ground cucumbers, and less often greenhouse cucumbers. In this article, we explainwhy gardens are bitterand how you can prevent it, and whether you can eat bitter cucumbers. Seehow to get rid of bitterness in cucumbersand how to prevent cucumbers from turning bitter when growing in your own garden. We will also convince you that bitter cucumbers are not poisonous at all!
Why are cucumbers bitter?
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Where does the bitterness in cucumbers come from?
The cucurbitacins , compounds belonging to tetracyclic terpenes with a steroidal structure, are responsible for the bitter taste of ground cucumbers. The presence of cucurbitacins in cucumbers is genetically determined. In other words - it is a natural feature of cucumbers, and plants produce cucurbitacins, among other things, to repel pest attacks.
Thanks to the work of breeders, today there are manyvarieties of cucumbers without this natural bitterness , and greenhouse cucumbers may be completely devoid of it. Bitter substances accumulate primarily in the leaves, stems and roots of plants. However, in the case of improper cultivation conditions (especially when the cucumber is exposed to drought), and when the fruit remains unbroken for too long on the bushes,cucurbitacins can easily penetrate into the cucumber fruit
Are bitter cucumbers poisonous and can you eat them?
It is widely believed thatbitter cucumbers should not be eaten , and some even say that they are poisonous.Meanwhile, it turns out that cucurbitacins are not harmful to humans, and a slight bitterness is even necessary for a pickled cucumber.
Moreover, as Dr. Urszula Kłosińska from the Institute of Horticulture in Skierniewice argues, numerous scientific studies prove medicinal properties of cucurbitacins found in cucumbersThey stimulate digestion, are antifungal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, and can even stop the spread of cancer cells. In natural medicine, cucurbitacins were used to fight parasites of the digestive system, and now they can be found in some supplements for men with prostate enlargement.Therefore
bitter cucumbers do not need to be afraidWe all agree, however, that bitter cucumbers are not tasty and hardly anyone wants to eat them. In the case of ground cucumbers, however, not all bitter cucumbers have to be lost, because bitterness can be easily removed by pickling.
Bitter cucumbers can be pickled
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How to get rid of the bitterness of cucumbers?
Fortunately, there are proven ways toavoid the bitter taste of cucumbersAmong these ways, there are also some myths that we will try to debunk here. The taste of cucumbers should be taken care of already at the stage of selecting seeds for cultivation, by following the appropriate rules of caring for the beds with cucumbers, to the proper methods of harvesting and storing cucumber fruits.
1. Choose cucumber varieties resistant to bittering
The first step towards tasty, bitterness-free cucumbers is sowing the seeds of the appropriate variety. Although there are good and tasty old varieties of cucumbers, one can accept the rule thatthe most devoid of bitterness are new , selected by breeders in recent years. The best varietal features can be expected from heterosis varieties marked with the F1 symbol. It is also worth knowing that many varieties, especially those marked with the F1 symbol, do not repeat their unique features in the next generations. Therefore, especially if we grow varieties marked with the F1 symbol, it is not worth picking cucumber seeds yourself. We should buy new seeds every year.
Among thevarieties of cucumbers resistant to bitteringit is worth recommending the Polish variety of cucumber Hela F1, which is perfect for direct consumption, for salads, for gherkins and for pickling cucumbers. It is a very well known variety, bred in the 1970s, and therefore not so modern at all. Hela F1 cucumbers have quite large fruits, sometimes over 20 cm long. When they are small, there are many spines on their skin, but their number decreases as the cucumber grows and matures. When fully ripe, they have almost no thorns at all. This variety does not have high requirements and is quite resistant to diseases and unfavorable growing conditions. However, it requires a lot of sun for a good yield. Seeds of cucumber varieties recommended for amateur cultivation in home gardens and allotments can be ordered in the shop of our guide. We chose varieties of cucumbers that are easy to grow, disease resistant and have a mild taste.
2. Take care of organic fertilization
Another thing that should be taken care of before planting seedlings isproper preparation of beds for cucumbersThey should be weeded and enriched with organic fertilizers. Cucumbers do well in the first year after the manure (it should be placed in the beds in the fall of the previous year), although fertilization with compost works just as well. If we have not prepared the soil in advance, just before planting the cucumbers on the beds, you can mix the soil with compost or use granulated manure, commonly available in gardening stores. Cucumbers grown in pots on balconies and terraces should be planted directly into the compost soil.
The use of organic fertilization is extremely important, becausecucumbers are very sensitive to an excess of mineral s alts in the soilThis problem can be avoided by using organic fertilizers and at the same time avoiding mineral fertilizers. Top dressing, during cucumber growth, we can add compost between plants or water them with diluted vermicompost.
Bas alt flour can also be a good fertilizer for cucumbers . It is a natural fertilizer made by grinding bas alt rock. Minerals from flour are released very slowly, therefore it does not pose a risk of excessive salinity of the soil. On the other hand, it provides a lot of silica that immunizes and strengthens plants, as well as potassium, which cucumbers need to properly absorb water from the soil, and thus also helps to prevent their becoming bitter.
3. Water your cucumbers frequently, but with small amounts of water
So we moved from potassium to the most important factor influencing the bittering of cucumbers. Well,cucumbers turn bitter when there is no waterThat is why it is very important to water the cucumbers regularly, often but with small portions of water, so that the soil is constantly slightly moist, but not excessively wet.
It is worth paying special attention to thisprinciple of watering cucumbers , because many other plants require less frequent but abundant watering. Cucumbers have the opposite and you need to water them often, but with smaller portions of water. We should remember this especially in periods of dry and hot weather. Cucumbers grown in pots on balconies and terraces require watering every day, sometimes even twice a day.Cucumbers grown in the ground are usually enough to water every other day
Keepingthe correct soil moisture in the cucumber bedsis helped by the high content of organic matter.Therefore, this is another argument in favor of organic fertilization mentioned in the previous point. In addition, it is important to mulch the soil between the plants, which not only prevents weeds from growing, but also reduces water evaporation from the soil and helps to retain more moisture, which our cucumbers need.
Of the noteworthy solutions, it is also worth replacing the hydrogel, which is mixed with the soil before planting the seedlings. The hydrogel granules absorb water after watering and gradually give it back as the soil dries up. This keeps the substrate moist for longer. Thisis especially helpful when growing cucumbers in pots and containersbut it also significantly facilitates field cultivation. Even if we forget to water the cucumbers sometimes, thanks to the moisture accumulated by the hydrogel, nothing will happen to them.
A hydrogel-containing product recommended for gardening applications is TerraCottem, which is additionally enriched with slow-acting fertilizers and ingredients that loosen the soil structure. I successfullyuse TerraCott to prevent cucumbers from bittering .
4. Follow the rules for harvesting and storing cucumbers
If we want to avoid bittering cucumbers, the rules of proper cucumber harvesting and storage are also important. First of all,cucumbers should be picked frequently as they ripenSmall, yet uneven cucumbers do not contain bitterness. However, it may increase as the cucumber ripens and grows. The overgrown ones that remain on the plants for too long can be quite bitter. Especially if the cucumbers ripen in strong sun, which speeds up this process.
Picked cucumbers from the garden should be placed in a shaded and cool place as soon as possible. Leaving them in the sun causes them to lose their firmness and may accelerate the bittering process.The optimal storage temperature for cucumbers is 12-13 ° CThe cucumbers can be stored at this temperature for 7-10 days.
If we put the cucumbers at a temperature below 7 ° C, e.g.in the refrigerator, you must eat them within 1-2 days after taking them out of the refrigerator. Otherwise, they will quickly developsigns of overcooling damageThis is why cucumbers bought in grocery stores, which were previously often transported or stored in cold stores, quickly soften, turn yellow and lose when brought home your taste.
Does the way of peeling cucumbers affect their taste?
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Peel the cucumbers from the light to the dark side …? Not necessarily!
As we wrote earlier, bitter cucurbitacins accumulate mainly in the leaves, stems and roots of the plant. Thecucumber fruits themselves are usually bitter more than the darker side , the one from which they grew from the stem. The opposite end, the one from which the inflorescence grew, contains less bitterness. Kukurbitacins accumulate mainly on the surface of the cucumber fruit, in the dark layer of the peel.
For this reason, a popular opinion has spread thatcucumbers should be peeled from the light side to the darker oneThis is to prevent the cucurbitacins accumulated in the skin from spreading all over the cucumber and just below it on the darker side of the cucumber . However, as Dr. Urszula Kłosińska from the Institute of Horticulture in Skierniewice emphasizes, this is a myth and there is no scientific evidence indicating that this method of peeling has an impact on the taste of cucumbers. Cucurbitacins can accumulate in the whole cucumber fruit, and the right way to peel it won't do much.
6. Bitter cucumbers should be pickled
Pickling is a way to get rid of the bitterness of cucumbersTherefore, if cucumbers are too bitter to eat them raw, it is worth pickling them. Among the recommended additives when pickling cucumbers are recommended: vinegar, s alt, and fresh spices such as dill, horseradish and garlic, which give the cucumbers the right flavor. However, it is worth knowing thatbitterness during pickling cucumbers can be enhanced by dry spices , such as pepper or dried bay leaves.So if we pickle cucumbers in order to remove their excess bitterness, it is worth avoiding these spices.
