Why can cucumbers taste bitter, are they sprayed with chemicals?
Fruits in the cucumber family, including zucchini, bitter gourd, cucumber, bottle gourd, sometimes have a bitter taste. Many people worry that these bitter fruits are sprayed with high levels of pesticides. In fact, this bitter taste is not caused by plant protection substances. The unusual bitterness in some fruits is often associated with ant bites, and you should pay attention to the fact that many of these bitter fruits have ant bites and resin flow.
These types of cucumber family plants have a natural biological mechanism that produces a substance called Cucurbitacin. This substance has a bitter taste to protect the fruit from insects. Therefore, when the fruit is bitten by ants or bees, it produces more of this substance, making the fruits with ant bites even more bitter. This bitterness is produced by the plant itself as a self-defense mechanism to deter insects from feeding.
Therefore, the bitter taste in fruits like gourd, cucumber, bitter gourd, and bottle gourd is not caused by pesticides.
Beware of poisoning by this natural bitterness
According to the body’s defense mechanism, the Cucurbitacin released by the plant can intoxicate and even kill ants, bees, and insects. When humans consume a large amount of this substance, they may also show signs of poisoning. In milder cases, the body will naturally eliminate Cucurbitacin, while in more severe cases, individuals may experience nausea and abdominal pain. In the past, India had recorded cases of death from Cucurbitacin poisoning due to the consumption of bottle gourd juice. Consuming a large amount of Cucurbitacin can cause diarrhea, vomiting, frequent poisoning, and a high concentration of this substance in the body can cause hair loss. In severe cases, it can lead to severe dehydration, trembling, weight loss, and if not treated promptly with medication, it can affect the vital organs and even be fatal.
Therefore, when buying bitter gourd, bottle gourd, cucumber, and bitter gourd, be careful to remove them if they have a bitter taste. If all the fruits are very bitter, it indicates that the cucurbitacin content in the fruits is very high, so they should not be consumed, especially by young children.
Tips for choosing fruits to avoid bitterness
When buying bottle gourd, cucumber, zucchini, and bitter gourd, pay attention to avoid choosing fruits with ant bites, as well as unusually large fruits.
When eating, taste the fruits, and if they are too bitter, avoid continuing to eat them. For bottle gourd, you can soak it in saltwater to see if the bitterness decreases. For cucumber, you can cut off the head because the bitter taste is usually concentrated at the head and tail of the fruit.
If these fruits have a strange smell, it may be related to chemicals, in that case, do not eat them.
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