Showing Food Towel gourd
| General Information | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Towel gourd | ||||||||||
| Scientific Name | Luffa aegyptiaca | ||||||||||
| Description | Luffa is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines classified in the cucumber family. In everyday non-technical usage the name, also spelled loofah, usually refers to the fruit of the two species Luffa aegyptiaca and Luffa 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 China and southeast Asia. When the fruit is fully ripened it is very fibrous. The fully developed fruit is the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge which is used in bathrooms and kitchens as a sponge tool. Luffa are not frost-hardy, and require 150 to 200 warm days to mature. | ||||||||||
| Primary ID | FOOD00492 | ||||||||||
| Picture |  | ||||||||||
| Classification | |||||||||||
| Group | Gourds | ||||||||||
| Sub-Group | Gourds | ||||||||||
| Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Superkingdom | Eukaryota | ||||||||||
| Kingdom | Viridiplantae | ||||||||||
| Phylum | Streptophyta | ||||||||||
| Class | Magnoliopsida | ||||||||||
| Order | Cucurbitales | ||||||||||
| Family | Cucurbitaceae | ||||||||||
| Genus | Luffa | ||||||||||
| Species | aegyptiaca | ||||||||||
| Variety | Not Available | ||||||||||
| External Links | |||||||||||
| ITIS ID | 503570 | ||||||||||
| Wikipedia ID | Luffa | ||||||||||
| Composition | |||||||||||
| Compounds |
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| Macronutrients |
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| References | |||||||||||
| Content Reference | — Duke, James. 'Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. United States Department of Agriculture.' Agricultural Research Service, Accessed April 27 (2004). — U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2008. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 21. Nutrient Data Laboratory Home Page. | ||||||||||