Luffa is a fibrous fruit when it is fully ripened. Luffa, also called ‘loufa’ or ‘loofah’, has to be harvested at its early stage of development to make it suitable for human consumption. The edible vegetable is obtained from the cucumber family luffa aegyptiaca.
Luffa is known to germinate under specified conditions and in designated locations. You may be considering eating or using luffa in your dishes, but the apprehension on how it tastes and how you might react to it keeps you from trying it out.
What does luffa taste like? Luffa has a slightly sweet and mild taste when cooked. The taste is similar to that of zucchini or summer squash. The delicate texture of luffa makes its flesh break out when cooked for a very long time. The skin of the luffa looks bumpy and rough but is perfectly edible.
The roughness is rarely noticeable when cooked properly. Luffa is an always-go-to vegetable because of its ability to take on the flavor of the different dishes it is cooked with.
Luffa has an exceptional taste and texture. Set aside your worries about how the bumpy-textured vegetable would affect your cooking and try it out. Knowing that Luffa has exceptional taste is not enough right?
I’m sure you’re curious to know how you could eat it, how it can be added to your various cuisines, and what benefits it proffers to your health.
Nutritional Benefits of Luffa
Luffa is a gift to the human body when we consider how packed it is with health and nutritional benefits. Luffa contains a moderate amount of minerals and vitamins.
The rough and smooth variety of Luffa contains Carotene and lutein that are antioxidants in the body. It is a great source of vitamin A that helps work as an anticancer and anti-aging agent at the cellular level of the human body.
Luffa has proven to be beneficial to all age groups, and suitable for consumption in whatever state the human body might be. Luffa is a folate-rich food that helps pregnant mothers reduce the chance of having neural-tube defects in their newborn child.
When cooked properly, the soft and smooth flesh of luffa is rich in dietary fiber. Fiber-rich food aids stress-free digestion and allows smooth bowel movement. If you are challenged with constipation and indigestion problems, Luffa is your go-to vegetable.
This fibrous vegetable is a very beneficial kind that you shouldn’t miss out on. Add it to your various recipes and have a great taste of the special vegetable while improving your health.
Culinary Uses of Luffa
Apart from other purposes Luffa provides, it can also be eaten raw or used in different recipes and dishes. It has a distinct quality of adapting to the flavor of the food it is cooked with. Luffa can only be made edible when harvested early. The flesh is still green, tender, and delicious at its early stage.
Luffa has a crunchy texture and sweet taste that makes it edible on its own. You can steam, slightly stir-fry thin slices, or deep-fry thick slices of luffa to make it edible. Also, You can stuff and braise your pork with luffa if you are not satisfied with how it tastes on its own.
The sweet and mild aroma of Luffa would help enhance the taste, and bring a savory taste to your mouth.
International dishes can also be prepared, garnished, and given a scintillating taste when you add luffa with it. You can prepare your favorite Indian vegetable with luffa. You can also prepare ridge gourd luffa and smooth luffa with crushed dried peanut or with beans.
You can improve the taste of your favorite dishes when you add luffa to them.
Where is Luffa Grown? How Do You Procure Them?
Luffa looks like a cucumber and has a deep green fruit. The plant originates in India, where it is still available and allowed to grow naturally.
The increase in demand for Luffa has made it be cultivated and harvested domestically. Luffa is grown for commercial purposes in China, Japan, Korea, and some parts of Central America.
Eating Luffa in regions where the weather condition does not favor Its growth has been made easy. Freshly preserved Luffa can be gotten from your local grocery stores. In the grocery store, luffa is usually stored in the vegetable section where you find cucumber and zucchini.
Luffa is usually packed, and soaked in water to preserve it in the grocery store. Wash thoroughly with clean water and desalinate, whether your luffa is freshly picked from the farm or gotten from the store. You can then peel off the skin and enjoy it raw or with other dishes.
Is Luffa Good For Diabetes?
Yes, Luffa is good for treating diabetes. The Luffa seed contains a substantial amount of minerals and antioxidants that help improve body functioning and combat certain illnesses in the body. The plant has a reputation for having the potency of controlling diabetes Mellitus to the barest minimum.
Facts You Don’t Know About Luffa
- In the science world, luffa is similar to squash, bitter lemon, ivy gourd, calabash, and cucumber as it belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. It has the botanical name Luffa cylindrica or Luffa acutangula, depending on its species.
- Healthy luffa plants are only found growing on climbing vines in almost all climate, but only thrive well in subtropical and tropical waters
- Luffa serves other purposes in the household. Aged luffa plants can be left to dry and used to make hard sponges for exfoliating the skin and cleaning the bathroom
- If you want to preserve luffa for quality, it is best stored in the vegetable crisper compartment of the freezer. It lasts up to 4-5 days.