Cucumber

See also Cucumis (genus)

Constituents

Listing on Duke's Phytochemical Database

Cucumbers are considered cooling in herbal medicine and are a wonderful way to hydrate, refresh the body and provide cooling during warm seasons. Originally from Asia, the Cucumber is a climbing/creeping vine in the Gourd family that produces the Cucumber fruits that we eat as a vegetable. There are many varieties of Cucumber available on the market, but generally they are vines that produce tendrils for supports and leaves that form canopies over the fruits, which are diverse but generally fall in three main categories: slicing, pickling and seedless. Cucumbers are about 95% water and a good source of Vitamin K. The mild melon aroma and flavor produced by Cucumbers are from aldahydes and the lightly bitter flavor from the cucurbitacins. Cucumbers are normally enjoyed raw in salads, sandwhiches, juices, yogurts, or pickled, but also sometimes in cooked dishes, such as Cucumber cake or curries. The young leaf and stems have been consumed as potherbs.

The fruit, leaf and root of the Cucumber have been historically been used for their medicinal purposes. In traditional Chinese medicine Cucumbers are used for conditions such as hydration, irritability, diarrhea and detoxification. In Ayurveda, it is widely used for sunburn, swelling under the eyes and irritated skin. A few slices in water can make a cooling beverage, or the sliced fruit applied directly to skin (or over the eyes) also has a cooling effect. It is partly for this reason, Cucumber has been traditionally used on burns, sores, blemishes, and for soothing skin. The leaf juice is also used as a digestive and diuretic. Through scientific investigation, Cucumber has been found to exhibit antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antiwrinkle, anti-hyaluronidase, anti-elastase and hypolipidemic activities. To make an enjoyable Cucumber cooling spray, blend Cucumber fruit and strain through cheesecloth, mix with juice from a lemon and a teaspoon of aloe vera gel and place in a spray bottle—mist freely over face and skin. (Source)

Studies/Articles

• Top Four Health Benefits of Cucumbers
• Phytochemical screening and in vitro antibacterial and anticancer activities of the aqueous extract of Cucumis sativus.
• Garlic volatile diallyl Disulfide induced cucumber resistance to downy mildew.

Alcohol Detox

• Heat-treated cucumber juice has significant protective effect on alcohol detoxification in experimental rats.

Anti-Inflammatory

Iminosugar idoBR1 isolated from cucumber Cucumis sativus reduces inflammatory activity.

Cancer

• Cucurbitacin B significantly and specifically inhibited prostate cancer cell growth with a low IC50 value of 0.3 μM in PC-3 and LNCaP cells accompanied by marked apoptosis.

Cerebrovascular

White Fruits and Vegetables May Lower Stroke Risk

Osteoarthritis

• Effectiveness of Cucumis sativus extract versus glucosamine-chondroitin in the management of moderate osteoarthritis.

Other Effects

• Cucumber (C. sativus) leaves have an inhibitory effect on melanin production.

Growing

• Effect of green garlic/cucumber crop rotation for 3 years on the dynamics of soil properties and cucumber yield in Chinese anthrosol.
• Efficacy of *Rheum officinale* liquid formulation on cucumber powdery mildew
• Protective effect of Black Locust (*Robinia pseudoacadia*) extracts against cucumber powdery mildew fungus (*Sphaerotheca fuliginea*)