Luffa is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines in the cucumber family (Cucurbitaceae).
In everyday non-technical usage, the luffa, also spelled loofah (referred to as gilki or ram tori in India), usually means the fruit of the two species L. aegyptiaca and L. acutangula. The fruit of these species is cultivated and eaten as a vegetable. The fruit must be harvested at a young stage of development to be edible. The vegetable is popular in India, China, Vietnam. When the fruit is fully ripened, it is very fibrous. Various dishes of gilki are prepared in India and eaten. The fully developed fruit is the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge which is used in bathrooms and kitchens. Luffa are not frost-hardy, and require 150 to 200 warm days to mature.
The name luffa was taken by European botanists in the 17th century from the Egyptian Arabic name ??? l?f.
Video Luffa
Uses
Fibers
The fruit section of L. aegyptiaca may be allowed to mature and used as a bath or kitchen sponge after being processed to remove everything but the network of xylem fibers. If the loofah is allowed to fully ripen and then dry out on the vine, the flesh disappears leaving only the fibrous skeleton and seeds, which can be easily shaken out. Marketed as luffa or loofah, the sponge is used as a body scrub.
In Paraguay, panels are made out of luffa combined with other vegetable matter and recycled plastic. These can be used to create furniture and construct houses.
Food
Luffa are best eaten when small (less than 12 cm in length) and still green.
In Vietnam the gourd is called "m??p h??ng" and is a common ingredient in soups and stir-fried dishes.
In Myanmar it is known as that pwet thee (????????).
In Hindi-speaking North Indian states, it is called torai (????), and cooked as vegetable. But in central/Western India specially in MP, it is called gilki (??????). Torai is reserved for ridge gourd and is less popular than gilki in central western India.
In Gujarat it is known as Turia or Turya as well as Ghissori or Ghissora in the Kutchi language, it is a simple but very popular vegetable usually made with a plentiful tomato gravy and garnished with green chillies and fresh coriander. Even the most fussy children find this vegetable appetizing and tasty to eat as cooked roti is popularly shredded by hand and mixed into it, which is colloquially known as "rotli shaak ma bhuseli" .Alternatively this dish is also eaten mixed with plain cooked rice.
In Bengali-speaking Bangladesh and Indian state of West Bengal, it is known as jhinge (????) and a popular vegetable. It is eaten fried or cooked with shrimp, fish, or meat.
In Tamil Nadu, the gourd is called peerkangai and used as a vegetable to make peerkangai kootu, poriyal, and thogayal. Even the skin is used to make chutney.
In Karnataka's Malenadu (Western Ghats) it is known as tuppadahirekayi, which literally translates as "buttersquash". It grows naturally in this region and is consumed when it is still tender and green. It is used as a vegetable in curries, but also as a snack, bhajji, dipped in chickpea batter and deep fried. Once the fruit dries out, it is used as a natural scrubber and washing sponge.
In Andhra Pradesh, it is called nethi beerakaya or beerakaya. And in Assam it is called jika (????, Luffa acutangula) and bhula (???, Luffa aegyptica). It is used as a vegetable in a curry, chutney and stir fry.
In Kerala, it is called peechinga; in the Palakkad area it is particularly called poththanga and used in the bath. It is also used as a vegetable, cooked with dal or stir fried. Fully matured fruit is used as a natural scrub in rural Kerala. In some places like Wayanad, it grows as a creeper on fences.
In Maharashtra, India, dodka (ridge gourd luffa) and ghosavala (smooth luffa) are common vegetables prepared with either crushed dried peanuts or with beans.
In Manipur, India, Sebot is cooked with other ingredients like potato, dried fish, fermented fish and served. It is also steamed and consumed or crushed (Ironba) with other ingredients and served with steamed rice (Chaak). Fried ones (Kaanghou) are also favorites for many.
In Japan, it is called hechima (???) and is cultivated all over the country during summer. It is commonly used as a green vegetable in traditional dishes of the Nansei Islands and Kyushu while other regions of Japan grow it predominantly as a sponge, or in soaps, shampoos and lotions. Together with bitter melon, it is also a popular plant to grow outside of a building window during summer, in order to create a natural sun screen.
In China, Taiwan, and Indonesia (where it is called Sigua or oyong), the Philippines (where it is called patola) and Manipur, India, (where it is called sebot) the luffa is eaten as a green vegetable in various dishes. It is also known as "Chinese okra" in Canada and the U.S.. In Spanish, it is called an estropajo.
In Korea (where it is called Susemi ???), this plant is used for washing dishes (loffah) and in Korean cuisine.
Luffa species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Hypercompe albicornis. In Myanmar, (where it is called tha-boot-thee ????????) probably derived from the word sebot in Manipur. When it is young used as food and when it is mature and dry, cleared of all seeds and used as sponge for cleaning purposes. It is also widely used in steaming glutinous rice instead of cloth.
Maps Luffa
Gallery
See also
- Gourd
References
External links
- Multilingual taxonomic information at the University of Melbourne
Source of article : Wikipedia
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