Why cucumbers are covered with pimples

Sometimes not the most important questions haunt us for many years and we never find the time to get an answer to them. For example, who at least once in their life has not thought about why cucumbers are covered with pimples? Of course, not all varieties have such an ornament, but most often such specimens get to the table. It turns out that there is nothing mysterious about this and the explanation is quite obvious.

Cucumbers got on the table to our ancestors a long time ago. At least 500 years ago in Russia they were already known and loved. But he is a foreign guest on our lands, since he came to us from Europe. It is not known exactly where the Europeans first began to cultivate this culture, but most likely the ancient Romans and Greeks began to grow cucumbers. They came to them from across the sea, from the Egyptians, and they borrowed cucumbers from the Hindus.

It is known for sure that the homeland of cucumbers is tropical India, from where they could disperse around the world with merchants and conquerors. The ancestor of our cucumbers is the thermophilic cucumber of Hardwick. The fruits of this plant are completely different from the classic cucumber, but more like a cactus.

Wild cucumber is covered with strong thorns that help the plant to ward off animals and birds. There are many creatures in nature who are not averse to eating the juicy pulp of a Hardwick cucumber, although it has a disgusting taste. Ancient breeders probably had a long time over the wild ancestor of the plant before they got rid of its bitterness. At the same time, they deprived him of thorns, which are absolutely useless in the household.

The pimples on the cucumber's surface are a reminder of the thorns that armed the Indian ancestor of this vegetable. These are the ledges on which the thorns were once located. By the way, thorns can still be seen on young cucumbers of some varieties. They are small and not dangerous, and as they mature, they disappear altogether.

Nowadays, breeders have bred hundreds of varieties of cucumbers. Some of them have perfectly smooth skin, without a trace of pimples. But such cucumbers are rare in our latitudes, and for us, after all, bumpy skin is much more familiar. By the way, did you know that a cucumber is not a vegetable at all?