I am sure cucumber is part of your daily salad. You might be curious about the HEALTH BENEFITS of different cucumber varieties. I am sharing them here.
I am very FOND OF CUCUMBERS and similar fruit vegetables that are consumed. You will be satiated with the years of gardening knowledge I have.
I am glad you are in the right place to EXPLORE CUCUMBER VARIETIES. The treasure that you will unfold here will stay with you forever.
You will become a master of cucumbers after reaching the end of this article.
Learn the health benefits & various types of cucumbers.
Health Benefits of Cucumbers
There are wide cucumber varieties. They all have different nutrients and health benefits. Commonly, all of the cucumber varieties help keep you hydrated. And the fiber in them helps AVOID CONSTIPATION and keeps your bowel healthy.
Cucumbers contain vitamin K, which helps in blood clotting and keeps bones healthy. They also have vitamin A, which is helpful in vision, the immune system, and reproduction. Plus, it ensures that your ORGANS FUNCTION PROPERLY, like the heart, lungs, and kidneys.
Types of Cucumbers
The total number of cucumber types is nearly 100. Most of them are available in the market very quickly. They include Persian, Kirby, and English cucumbers.
Some are EASILY DIGESTIBLE or ‘burpless’. Others can be edible by toning down with tangy pickling liquid. Let’s indulge in some common types of cucumber here.
Pickling Cucumbers
The pickling cucumbers are usually short and big in size. They are used to MAKE PICKLES in vinegar, brine, or any other solution. Have a look at some of their varieties:
1. Burpee Pickler
The Burpee Pickler is a type of cucumber that matures early on full-sized vines. It has black spines on them and is of medium green color. It is 31/2-5” in size and has blunt tips. It tastes crispy with a crunchy texture and SLIGHTLY SWEET FLAVOR-LIKE HONEY. It can tolerate the cucumber mosaic virus.
2. Jersey Pickling
The Jersey Pickling is a type of heirloom cucumber used in making dill pickling recipes. It has black spines and is 7 to 8 inches long as the harvest cucumbers. It is BITTER IN TASTE. It is a space hog in the garden and can be grown quickly on a trellis.
3. Alibi
The Alibi is a green-colored pickling cucumber that is smooth from the outside. It turns from a tiny pinkie finger stage to a 4” long and 1½” wide. Alibi is a HIGH-YIELDING VARIETY, a gherkin-sized sweet cucumber. It is one of the best cukes that grows on disease-resistant compact vines.
4. Parisian
The Parisian pickling cucumber is RARE. It is an old French gherkin or cornichon pickler from the 1800s. It is used to make tiny sweet pickles and has a buttery flavor. The texture of this green cucumber is crisp and tender even after its prime. It can be harvested after 50 days for pickling.
Suggested reading: Are Pickles Cucumbers? Solving The Puzzle
Slicing Cucumbers
Slicing cucumbers are usually grown for FRESH EATING. Pickling cucumbers are not eaten raw. But slicer cucumbers are used in sandwiches & salads. They have dark green skin, and these fresh-eating cucumbers are sometimes peeled. Get to know about some of the slicing cucumber varieties here:
5. Bush Champion
The Bush Champion grows on non-climbing deciduous annual bushy cucumber plants. It appears early and is 25 to 30 cm (19-21in) long. It is a crisp and well-flavored cucumber with dark green skin that is perfect for Slicing. It can be quickly GROWN IN A CONTAINER or LIMITED SPACE.
6. Straight Eight
These Straight fruits Eight cucumbers are heirlooms. It is named in such a way as to signify its 8-inch length. It is also a deep green color slicing cucumber. It is known for its finest quality and flavor. These vining cucumbers GROW ON VIGOROUS, PRODUCTIVE VINES. It benefits when grown on trellises.
7. Sugar Crunch
The Sugar Crunch is an excellent sweet cucumber. It has a crispy and crunchy texture, which means it can be used in all various ways. With smooth and tender skin, just like a greenhouse cuke. It is 4 to 5” long and PETITE IN SIZE, like a pickler. Its vine is cucumber disease resistant.
8. Sweet Success
The Sweet Success is a seedless green color cucumber. It is a slender 14-inch-long cucumber with excellent taste, FREE OF BITTERNESS. Plus, these are smooth, thin-skinned fruits. It is high-performing and won an AAS award. Its cucumber plants resist cucumber mosaic virus, scab and target leaf spots.
Burpless Cucumbers
The term Burpless Cucumbers are those cucumbers that lack or don’t have any cucurbitacin. Cucurbitacin DECREASES THE BITTERNESS and the occurrence of burping as well. Learn about some of them here:
9. Summer Dance
The Summer Dance is one of the Japanese cucumbers and burpless. These are dark green cucumbers with white color spines on them. These Japanese cucumbers are uniformly glossy on the surface. It is 9 to 12” in length. It has a crisp and clean flavor. Its plant is high-yielding and DISEASE RESISTANT.
10. Middle East
The Middle East cucumber has bright green and smooth skin. The skin of this cucumber is very SOFT BUT DURABLE simultaneously. It has a unique sweet and mild flavor and texture. Usually, it is 6 to 7” long. But it can be harvested in small sizes as well.
11. Suyo Long
The Suyo Long cucumber is thin and cylindrical in shape. It is 45 cm in length. It has an edible, thin dark green skin with ribbed & knobbed texture. When this cucumber is young, it also has soft spikes. It has a pale green-to-white flesh with edible cucumber seeds. It NEVER GROWS STRAIGHT but in shapes like curlicues when not trellised.
Specialty Cucumbers
The specialty cucumber doesn’t require pollination to grow fruits. It includes heirloom cucumbers as follows:
12. Sweet Armenian
Sweet Armenian cucumbers are heirloom cucumbers that are creamy in pale-green color. This cucumber is up to 12 inches long and ridged cucumber that is a crisp and juicy texture. This cucumber is also known as a “yard-long cucumber.” It does not have a bitter taste and is crunchy with very thin skins.
It has fewer seeds and never gets pithy or hollow-hearted. This cucumber is both decorative and delicious when sliced into scalloped slices. Its plants are high-yielding and thrive in hot summer areas.
13. Lemon Cucumbers
The Lemon Cucumbers are the spherical or oval shape of tennis-ball size. These cucumbers are 5 to 7 cm long. They usually have a small protrusion at the blossom end, similar to a navel orange.
The thin skin of these cucumbers is lemon-yellow to gold in color. Their skins are soft with some stripes and mottling with tiny bristles. The inner flesh of these cucumbers is pale green to yellow with EDIBLE SEEDS. They have a mild taste plus a sweet taste and a cool, crisp texture.
14. Jelly Melon Cucumbers
The Jelly Melon Cucumbers have green and yellow speckles and resemble hedgehogs. These oval-shaped cucumbers have thorns over them and are 12 cm long. But these cucumbers are botanically NOT ACTUAL CUCUMBERS. Their flavor resembles pomegranate and citrus.
So they are full of Vitamin C. The flesh of these cucumbers is green-gold and gel-filled with many seeds. They can be eaten fresh and also used in garnishing. The plants of these cucumbers grow well in hot climates.
Suggested reading: Why Are My Cucumbers Yellow?
FAQs about Types Of Cucumbers
1. What type of cucumber is most common?
European or English cucumber is one of the most common types of cucumber. They are marketed as “burpless”. This 1 to 2 feet long near to seedless cucumber has very few seeds, and its thin green skin is without any spines.
2. Which cucumber is the sweetest?
Striped Armenian cucumbers are one of the sweetest. This cucumber has thin skin and tiny seeds. Even Though it looks like a cucumber, it is ACTUALLY A MELON from the Cucumis species.
3. What cucumber is best to eat raw?
The lemon cucumber is the best for EATING RAW. This is due to its light, mild flavor and crispy texture. This cucumber can be eaten either on its own or sliced to make a salad.
4. Which cucumber is bitter?
American Slicing cucumber is the most bitter. It is very commonly available in grocery stores. This cucumber is totally the opposite of a Persian cucumber. A Persian cucumber usually has little-to-no bitterness with a full cucumber flavor.
What’s Next
Learning the health benefits of all cucumber varieties and diving into various types. First came Pickling Cucumber varieties used to make pickles.
Then another type of cucumber, like Slicing Cucumbers, can be eaten raw. Next, you learned about Burpless Cucumber, less bitter, and specialty cucumbers.
If you are more CURIOUS ABOUT CUCUMBERS OR OTHER FRUIT, go through AsterGardening for similar articles.
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