What family does the squash belong to? Zucchini is a relative of pumpkin, a herbaceous bush with elongated early ripening fruits - a frequenter of vegetable gardens.

Zucchini is a favorite vegetable due to its beneficial qualities, excellent taste and unpretentious cultivation. And there is no need to prove to the originals: zucchini is a berry or vegetable. Of course, the vegetable is low-calorie, dietary, healthy for children and adults.

Wild zucchini and domesticated

It is difficult even to imagine a wild zucchini in the vastness of nature. Introduced a long time ago to Europe from America, and a little later - to Russia, it not only took root in farms, but also became a permanent cultivation culture, which means that breeders are working on developing new varieties and improving the already familiar ones. Therefore, if someone managed to see a familiar oblong fruit growing somewhere on the side of the road or in a clearing, then most likely it was a seed of a vegetable marrow that had sprouted by chance.

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Zucchini

Specifications

Zucchini Negritok

The variety of a vegetable is manifested literally in everything: in shape and color, size and rate of ripening, taste and yield, cold resistance and keeping quality. What a zucchini looks like depends on the shape and variety.

Plant shape

  • Climbing - branches-lianas crawl on the ground in different directions, a rich harvest of high-quality fruits will be born on them. Occupies a significant area in the garden area;
  • Bush - a compact shrub with several stems directed upwards. The fruits form in bunches. This form is indispensable in small gardens, where every decimeter of area is valued.

Fruit shapes: what a zucchini looks like

  • medium cylinder;
  • elongated cylinder;
  • oval;
  • pear-shaped;
  • round (brightly colored, variegated is also used as a decorative look);
  • curved, curved, curved (sometimes the shapes are the most bizarre).

Fruit size

  • young, milky ripeness - the most tender and sweet, size up to 10 cm; when you press on such a zucchini, a droplet of milky liquid will stand out. During this period, the vegetable contains the greatest amount of vitamins and other useful substances;
  • ripe fruits reach 30-40 cm in length, while their taste remains at its peak;
  • overgrown fruits - they are also called ripe, but the quality of taste is smeared, vitamins and other nutrients are fading away, the peel becomes almost stone. The size can be huge. Bringing zucchini to such a state is justified only when grown for seeds;
  • small squash - the easiest way to get them from round varieties. There is no common name for small zucchini.

Zucchini fruit

Color palette

  • White.
  • Light green.
  • Dark green.
  • Almost black (with a green tint).
  • Light yellow or golden.
  • Yellow.
  • Yellow-green.
  • Orange.
  • Beige.
  • Striped (light and dark green stripes alternate).
  • Variegated (covered with irregular spots).

As you can see, there are not only white and green, but also bright, decorative zucchini.

Terms of fruiting

  • Early ripening (harvesting for 40-45 days).
  • Ultra-ripe (harvest 35-40 days).
  • Medium ripening (harvest is ready for 46-50 days).
  • Late ripening (readiness on the 50th or more day).

Pollination methods

  • Traditional, by insects (bees, bumblebees, wasps cross-pollinate - the stamens from the male flower are transferred to the pistil of the female).
  • Parthenocarpic (virgin) hybrids that do not require pollination, but such fruits are not suitable for further reproduction, since they do not have full-fledged seeds.

On a note: ofosch belongs to the Pumpkin family. The squash family does not exist.

The best varieties for the Middle Strip

Zucchini Emerald

Among the mass of high-quality varieties and hybrids, it is difficult to name the best, however, below are the most popular, time-tested among gardeners:

  • Gribovsky (bush, early, fruitful);
  • Belogor (bushy, productive);
  • Waterfall (late, dark green, suitable for canning);
  • Zolotinka (late, high-yielding, excellent taste);
  • Tsukesha (bush, early maturing, productive, unpretentious);
  • Zebra (bush, early, high yield).

The best foreign varieties

  • Iskander (bush, early, very productive, more than 15 kg per bush per season, has good immunity to diseases);
  • White bush (bush, early variety, yield 10-12 kg per bush, tasty cream-colored pulp, high keeping quality, universal use);
  • Kavili (early ripening, cold-resistant, immune to fungal diseases, high keeping quality);
  • Cannon (ultra-early ripening period, very tasty, well stored, fruiting all summer, has immunity to fungal diseases, fruitful);
  • Mary Gold (golden early variety fruit, bush bears fruit before frost, good taste, disease resistant, universal use).
Zucchini Cavili

Zucchini: useful properties

The usefulness of a vegetable is dictated by its chemical composition. What vitamins are in zucchini?

  • A, B, C, E, PP;
  • Trace elements - iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus;
  • Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids;
  • Cellulose;
  • Sahara.

All this has a healing effect on the digestive system, metabolism and skin condition.

The vegetable is actively used in dietary nutrition, and is useful for both adults and children.

Zucchini is good for both adults and children.

A woman during pregnancy also needs zucchini dishes. The diuretic ability of the vegetable will help get rid of the edema that some expectant mothers suffer from.

Zucchini is also included in the diet of infants in the form of vegetable puree.

Beneficial effect on the body:

  • Softness of taste and light consistency do not irritate the walls of the stomach and intestines;
  • Has a diuretic effect;
  • Removes metal salts, toxins from the body;
  • Reduces cholesterol;
  • Fights edema;
  • With the help of zucchini, proteins are better absorbed.

Application in medicine

Diseases for which eating zucchini is indicated: cardiovascular diseases (the content of potassium and magnesium contributes to the normal functioning of the heart);

  • the occurrence of edema (for various reasons);
  • sick liver, stomach and intestines;
  • problems with blood composition;
  • weakened immunity;
  • inflammation of the joints;
  • the presence of helminths;
  • kidney disease;
  • diabetes;
  • dryness of the skin.

There are many ways of cooking: fried, stewed zucchini, stuffed (where you can stuff large pieces of zucchini with dense pulp with various fillings), canned, baked (for example, with cheese), even boiled! For long-term fresh storage, it can be frozen. Also, everyone's favorite recipes for vegetable salads with fresh zucchini and zucchini pancakes.

No less interesting is the recipe for a therapeutic cocktail for helminths, when pumpkin and squash juice are mixed in equal proportions, and drunk on an empty stomach.

Important to remember!Fresh, raw zucchini or zucchini will be most beneficial. Their most valuable qualities (vitamins and trace elements) will not be destroyed by heat treatment.

By the way, young fruits are distinguished by a special taste and fullness of nutrients and useful substances. They are not hardened, their skin is thin, it does not need to be peeled off.There are no seeds in such small fruits, so the core can not be removed.

Indications and contraindications

Benefit

The usefulness of zucchini is appreciated. They have established themselves as an indispensable dietary dish for all ages - a small child and an old man, a pregnant woman and a person, after a long illness, enjoy eating a healthy vegetable.

Even babies get mashed zucchini as from the most hypoallergenic vegetable!

Zucchini puree

Harm

Only people suffering from urolithiasis have a contraindication. Diuretic properties will be harmful if they provoke the advancement of stones. Therefore, people suffering from such an ailment should definitely consult with their doctor.

Note! And one more category of patients who should use zucchini with caution: with gastritis and stomach ulcers, they can be eaten only in processed form, but not raw.

Pests and crop care rules

In order to grow a rich harvest of healthy zucchini, certain rules must be followed.

  1. Seed preparation (selection, soaking, disinfection).
  2. Soil preparation (digging and fertilizing).
  3. Compliance with crop rotation (it is good if the place allocated for the vegetable marrow was occupied by potatoes last season, also, the culture will grow well after onions).
  4. Implementation of competent watering, loosening, weeding from weeds.
  5. Fertilization.
  6. Use of chemicals when signs of disease or pest infestation appear.

Who harm the squash

Main enemies: spider mites, sprout flies and melon aphids.

If, despite all preventive measures, insects attack the zucchini, then you will have to resort to drugs (Iskra tablet) or folk methods (when a tick appears):

  • pepper in the form of infusion;
  • onion infusion;
  • wood ash solution.

The easiest way to fight aphids is with the help of Karbofos.

The sprout fly dies if you dig up the ground in the fall and apply manure, as well as remove all plant debris.

It's simply impossible to tell everything about zucchini. And to the question - what is zucchini - for a start, we can say that this is one of the best vegetables grown in the garden.