The Gourd Family (Cucurbitaceae) Including squash, pumpkin, cucumber, gourd, watermelon, and cantaloupe. Overview-These are a group of ornamental trailing or climbing plants. They are sometimes called the “vine vegetables”. Gourds are vegetables that are high in vitamin A and tasty to eat in many different ways.

Plants in the cucurbit (gourd) family include melons, pumpkins, squash and cucumbers. Each of those different cucurbits includes plants of different species and genera (plural of genus).

Cucurbits

More specifically, gourd refers to the fruits of plants in the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria and Cucurbita, or also to their hollow, dried-out shell. The bitter melon/balsam apple/balsam pear is also sometimes referred to as a gourd.

Part of the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes squash, watermelons and cucumbers, gourds are not toxic to humans, though those sold for decoration may need a good wash before being consumed.

Tips to avoid poisoning

• Ornamental gourds (colocynths): These are all toxic and should not be consumed.
• Edible squash, purchased commercially or grown in garden vegetable patches: Try a small piece of raw squash and if the taste is bitter, spit it out and throw it all away: it should not be eaten, even when cooked.

“They’re small and hard-rinded and very bitter, so they’re not typically eaten.” Of course, there are some gourd relatives that make for good eating. Edible varieties tend to go by “squash” or “pumpkin,” valued for the sweetness and tenderness of their flesh.

Cucurbits are a gourd family of flowering plants that include cucumbers, melons, squash and pumpkins, which can be delicious, healthful foods to enjoy in your diet. However, they could also make you quite ill if you’re not careful. Although it can be quite serious, cucurbit poisoning is also very rare.

You are definitely going to want to cook them, either in boiling water for 20 minutes, or in your oven for about an hour at 350 degrees. You can add them to stews, soups, curries, pastries, or even just eat them raw (though to be honest that probably won’t taste great). And don’t forget about the seeds.

This usually happens when the plant needs to get rid of the excess hydration, but cooler weather doesn’t let it lift off through the leaves or develop into flowers or fruits. The plant’s cells get swollen with extra water and burst, creating a pocket that heals, scars, and leaves a dry, corky bump on the surface.

Yes, gourds are edible. You can eat the pulp of the fruit, after peeling away the hard skin. The seeds are edible, too.

Choose a luffa gourd that is no longer than 6 inches to ensure it’s young enough to be eaten; its peel should be green. Another type of edible gourd is the bottle gourd, also known as calabash. The bottle gourd is considered a hardshell gourd, but the flesh is edible.

It is advisable to consume cooked bottle gourd because raw vegetable could harm the stomach and digestive system, causing ulcers and rarely multi-organ damage. The bitter taste should let people know that it is poisonous. Drinking uncooked bottle gourd juice or eating raw bottle gourd is dangerous to health.

The most commonly eaten gourds are Asian. Again, they are picked young and under ripe to ensure less harsh flavor. Among these are sponge (or Luffa) and bottle (or Calabash). There is also an Italian gourd called cucuzza.

Really the main distinction between squashes and gourds is that squashes are grown and harvested to eat, while gourds tend to be cultivated for decoration purposes. The squashes and gourds we’ll be talking about here are often referred to as winter squash. By contrast, summer squashes have tender, edible rinds.

Bottle Gourds Hard-shelled gourds will last for several years and have been grown for over five thousand years for use as containers and utensils, and the immature gourds are edible. Even today, these types have many uses, including birdhouses, storage vessels, dippers, or ornaments.

Here are different types of gourds in India.

• Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria Siceraria)
• Bitter Gourd (Momordica Charantia)
• Sponge Gourd (Luffa Cylindrica)
• Ridge Gourd (Luffa Acutangula)
• Pointed Gourd (Trichosanthes Dioica)
• Snake Gourd (Trichosanthes Cucumerina)
• Ash Gourd (Benincasa Hispida)
• Ivy Gourd (Coccinia Grandis)

The longest gourd measures 3.954 metres (12 feet 11 inches) and was grown by Goran Lazic (Serbia), as verified on 21 September 2019 in Mozirje, Slovenia. The achievement was authenticated by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC). The gourd was of the Kikinda variety.

The sweet potato or sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are a root vegetable….