What is luffa, chemical composition and calorie content. Useful properties and contraindications for use. Recipes for cooking pumpkin of this variety and application possibilities. Luffa is not included in the register of medicinal plants, but shamans in Africa and healers in South America use the pulp and dried seeds for medicinal purposes. Nutritionists have also confirmed the benefits of introducing this culture into the diet.
Interesting! Pumpkin washcloth is hypoallergenic, painlessly stimulates blood circulation, has a healing effect on the skin, renewing the upper layer of the dermis, exfoliating keratinized skin particles. It can be used for six months if dried every time after use.
Useful properties of luffa pumpkin
Eating young luffa fruits is good for your health. Eating dishes with this product simultaneously diversifies the diet and improves health.
Luffa pulp has the following therapeutic effects on the body:
- It speeds up metabolism and stimulates peristalsis - this helps to normalize metabolic processes, eliminate intestinal congestion, and get rid of acne.
- It has a slimming effect. The high fluid content of the fetus stimulates the urinary function of the kidneys, promotes the elimination of excess fluid - the edema disappears, the blood supply in the upper layers of the skin is accelerated.
- Has a tonic effect due to the high content of ascorbic acid and phosphorus.
- Helps get rid of salts that have been deposited in large and small joints.
- Restores respiratory function, reduces the frequency of bronchial asthma attacks, dilutes phlegm and facilitates its excretion.
- It has an antipyretic effect - in oriental medicine it is used instead of Analgin.
- Stimulates lactation.
The pulp of young pumpkin has a local anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effect, therefore it is useful to introduce it into the diet of patients with a history of chronic diseases of the nasopharynx and frequent relapses of stomatitis of various etiologies.
Harm and contraindications to the use of luffa pumpkin
There are no contraindications when using Luffa pumpkin. An exception may be individual intolerance.
However, for persons of the following categories - young mothers, pregnant women and children under 7 years of age - it is advisable to abandon this type of product or use it in small quantities.
This is explained as follows:
- Luffa pumpkin is not a common food. Therefore, in special conditions or in early childhood, with an insufficiently formed digestive system, only familiar foods should be included in the menu in order to avoid a negative reaction of the body.
- The high liquid content of pumpkin stimulates the urinary system. In all these conditions, dehydration is dangerous.
- The pumpkin pulp is bitter, which gives the dishes a special piquancy. The taste buds of children are not yet able to appreciate such a taste.
Luffa pumpkin diet quickly allows you to get rid of 3-4 kg by removing fluid from the body. If you adhere to such a diet for more than 3 days, your health condition will worsen, since the reserve of nutrients is quickly depleted - fatigue will increase, the ability to remember and concentration will decrease, and drowsiness will appear in the daytime.
Luffa pumpkin recipes
When preparing luffa dishes, you should pay attention to its appearance and the quality of the pulp. The skin of the fruit should be smooth; when pressed with a fingernail, a clear puncture should remain and drops of juice should appear. You should choose fruits with soft pulp, without dense veins. When choosing recipes for making pumpkin, you should take into account its taste - a little bitter. Thanks to him, dishes acquire a unique taste.
Luffa Pumpkin Recipes:
- Luffa stuffed … The young pumpkin is washed, cut into pieces 4-5 cm thick, and the core, which contains the seeds, is removed. All the pieces are dipped into a saucepan with boiling water and boiled for 5 minutes. Then the water is drained, and the pieces of luffa are allowed to dry. Pork pulp is turned together with onions, salted and pepper. Put a saucepan with a small amount of water on the fire, and while it boils, each piece of pumpkin is stuffed with minced meat. Then put the stuffed chunks in a saucepan, cook for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle with herbs before serving. You can add rice to minced meat, as to regular stuffed peppers or cabbage rolls.
- Fried luffa … The pumpkin is peeled, the seeds are removed, first cut into rings, and then they are cut across. Peel the garlic, crush, put a frying pan on the fire. Beat eggs, salt, pepper, add crushed garlic. Separately, breadcrumbs are poured onto a cutting board. Each piece of pumpkin is dipped first in an egg, and then rolled in bread crumbs. Fry until golden brown. When frying loofah in coffee butter, no breading is needed. In this case, first the garlic is fried in oil, then it is removed so that it does not burn, and pieces of pumpkin are spread in a pan and fried on both sides. Sprinkle the already fried side with sugar, salt and white pepper.
- Stew … A large eggplant is cut into large pieces; the peel does not need to be removed. Spread the workpieces in a bowl and pour in salted water to remove the bitterness. After 40-50 minutes, the pieces of eggplant will need to be rinsed with running water and laid out on a paper towel to remove excess liquid. Peel the luffa, remove the seeds, cut into rings with a thickness of 2 cm. Remove the seeds from the sweet pepper and cut it into strips. Chop the shallots, cut the tomatoes into large chunks. The frypot is greased with sunflower oil, laid in layers: eggplant, luffa, bell pepper, shallots, tomatoes, seasoned with crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees, put a brazier in it. The dish is ready when the peppers begin to char, the tomatoes shrivel, and the loofah chunks turn brown.
- Khau phat … Half a glass of long-grain rice is washed and cooked until cooked, put on a sieve to glass the water. Pork meat - 100 g - cut into strips, removing all films and veins, spread on a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Peel and finely chop the onion and a couple of garlic cloves. The meat is fried in vegetable oil until tender, removed, then onions, garlic and chopped hot pepper pod are fried in the same oil. Chopped tomatoes are added to the pepper, they are also fried. Put small pieces of luffa in a frying pan, stir with all the vegetables, without reducing the heat. When the luffa becomes soft, 2 minutes before it is fully cooked, add a few pieces of pineapple, meat, rice, peeled shrimp to the pan and season everything with soy sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot on preheated plates.
- Chinese fried luffa … The pan is heated over high heat, it should be so hot that the liquid drops evaporate instantly. Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan, fry the garlic, lay out the chicken and fry for exactly a minute. Mushrooms are added to the pan: the Chinese prefer their national Shiitaki mushrooms, but you can replace them with champignons. Cherries are fine too, but the taste of the dish will be much simpler. Pour soy sauce, meat broth or water, lay out pieces of loofah. Everything should boil a lot. Keep on fire for 2-3 minutes. At this time, dilute the starch with water, pour the contents of the pan and boil for another minute. Proportions of the main ingredients: 7-8 mushrooms, 250 g of meat, 300 g of loofah. If the taste is somewhat unusual, you can add salt and pepper. The Chinese prefer to cook pork in this way, but you need to take into account that the meat in this case remains elastic. Garnish for the dish - long boiled rice.
- Luffa porridge … Round rice is cooked in the usual way. When it is half cooked, pieces of luffa are spread in a saucepan and cooked together until tender, adding a little milk, salt and sugar to remove the characteristic bitterness of the vegetable. You can cook porridge with milk, but in this case, milk is not added immediately, but at the same time as the pumpkin. Ingredient proportions: 1 part rice - 5 parts loofah.
Luffa porridge has not only nutritional properties, but also medicinal properties. If, with a chest cough caused by pneumonia, bronchitis or smoking cessation, there is at least 100-150 g of it twice a day for breakfast and dinner, the lungs will quickly clear of accumulations of mucus. The rest of the dishes are just delicious and slightly vitaminize the body.
Interesting Luffa Pumpkin Facts
Luffa has many names: luffa, loofah, Vietnamese pumpkin, Chinese okra, peching, torai, bastard pumpkin. In the territory of the former CIS, the plant is called a mad cucumber. The liana "earned" this name because of the way of reproduction. As it ripens, the pulp turns into mucus that envelops the seeds. Once the fruit is ripe, the seeds fly out under pressure, like a cannon.
Eastern healers use luffa juice to treat conjunctivitis and make a potion that stops internal bleeding.
Luffa stem juice is an excellent face lotion that removes pigmentation and relieves acne breakouts. In Japan, it is used as one of the ingredients for making lipstick.
To check the maturity of a luffa, it is enough to assess its weight by lifting it with the palm of your hand. A ripe fruit is much lighter than a young one, as the pulp gradually dries out.
Making a pumpkin loofah is very simple. The fruit is shaken, and if it starts to rustle when shaking, it can be cut from the bush. The yellowed fruit is boiled for 10 minutes in boiling water, the peel and seeds are removed. Dense fibers are separated with a special iron brush. The finished washcloth is soaked for 2 hours in soapy water, washed with hot water, and you can use it.
If you want a hard washcloth, which not only massages the skin, but also acts as a scrub, wait for the almost complete ripening of the fetus.
How to grow luffa pumpkin - watch the video:
[media = https://www.youtube.com/watch? v = 8qBCH01ceWE] Luffa is not stored for a long time. In the form of a product, it retains its taste and useful properties for up to 4 days, and then begins to deteriorate. Therefore, if you liked the dishes from the luffa, you should think about growing a plant in your summer cottage.
