- Coccinia grandis sapling. The cotyledons are visible
- Mature fruit of ivy gourd
- Invasive ivy gourd on the island of Saipan, smothering native vegetation and climbing up buildings
- Ivy gourd with onion pickle curry
- Ripe red ivy gourd fruit
Coccinia grandis | |
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Ivy gourd | |
Ivy gourd cross section | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Cucurbitales |
Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
Genus: | Coccinia |
Species: | C. grandis |
Binomial name | |
Coccinia grandis | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Coccinia grandis, the ivy gourd, also known as scarlet gourd, [2] is a tropical vine. It grows primarily in tropical climates and is commonly found in the Indian states where it forms a part of the local cuisine. Coccinia grandis is cooked as a vegetable dish.
In Southeast Asia, it is grown for its edible young shoots and edible fruits. [3]
Coccinia grandis [4] is known as:
Its native range extends from Africa to Asia, including India, the Philippines, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, eastern Papua New Guinea, and the Northern Territories, Australia. Its documented introduced range includes the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Saipan, Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. [5]
Seeds or fragments of the vine can be relocated and lead to viable offspring. This can occur when humans transport organic debris or equipment containing C. grandis. Once the ivy gourd is established, it is presumably spread by birds, rats, and other mammals. In Hawaii, the fruit may be dispersed by pigs. [5] Long-distance dispersal is most commonly carried out by humans due to its culinary uses or by mistake.
Regarded as very invasive and on the Hawaii State Noxious Weed List, ivy gourd can grow up to four inches per day. It grows in dense blankets, shading other plants from sunlight and highjacking nutrients, effectively killing vegetation underneath. [6] It was introduced to Hawaii as a backyard food crop. It is sometimes tolerated along garden fences and other outdoor features because of its attractive white flowers. It has escaped to become a vigorous pest in Hawaii, Florida, Australia, and Texas.
This plant is a perennial climber with single tendrils and glabrous leaves. The leaves have 5 lobes and are 6.5–8.5 cm long and 7–8 cm wide. The species is dioecious. [7] Female and male flowers emerge at the axils on the petiole, and have 3 stamens. [8]
Both physical and chemical recommendations are made for control of the ivy gourd. Physical control requires pulling up plants by the roots, removing and destroying all stems and fruits, and subsequent policing of the area over several years to destroy (pull up by the roots and remove) seedlings as they sprout. Less rigorous hand-harvesting techniques can make infestations worse, to the point that chemical procedures are required, since plants are able to re-establish themselves from small stem pieces that touch the ground. When using chemical controls, that ivy gourd responded well to a thin-lined bark application of 100% Garlon 4 (triclopyr), leaving plants in place so as not to translocate the herbicide or spread the pest. [5] It is applied multiple times until the vine dies. In Hawaii, several species of insect have been introduced with the purpose of being a biocontrol. Two weevils, Acythopeus burkhartorum and A. cocciniae, were introduced by the Department of Agriculture to Oahu and Hawaii. African vine moths were also released onto Oahu and Maui. On the island of Maui, the A. cocciniae apparently is established and damaging leaves. The larvae feed on the plant and the adults chew holes in the leaves. The moth has yet to appear successful in its purpose.
They are best when cooked, and are often compared to bitter melon. The fruit is commonly eaten in Indian cuisine. People of Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries also consume the fruit and leaves. In U.S. cuisine, rashmatos are typically cooked and eaten during work lunches or dinners. In Thai cuisine, it is one of the ingredients of the common clear soup dish kaeng jued tum lueng and some curries kaeng khae curry and kaeng lieng curry.
In India, it is eaten as a curry, by deep-frying it along with spices, stuffing it with masala and sauteing it, or boiling it first in a pressure cooker and then frying it. It is also used in sambar , a vegetable and lentil-based soup. The immature fruit is also used raw, preserving its crisp texture, to make a quick fresh pickle. Some people cut it into circles or, in a few cases, dice it up into smaller pieces.
Ivy gourd is rich in beta-carotene. [9]
Thai cuisine is the national cuisine of Thailand.
The papaya, papaw, or pawpaw is the plant species Carica papaya, one of the 21 accepted species in the genus Carica of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and Central America. It is grown in several countries in regions with a tropical climate. In 2022, India produced 38% of the world's supply of papayas.
Momordica charantia is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit. Its many varieties differ substantially in the shape and bitterness of the fruit.
Benincasa hispida, the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, winter melon, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, Chinese preserving melon, is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is the only member of the genus Benincasa.
Morinda citrifolia is a fruit-bearing tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to Southeast Asia and Australasia, and was spread across the Pacific by Polynesian sailors. The species is now cultivated throughout the tropics and widely naturalized. There are over 100 names for this fruit across different regions. Common English names include great morinda, Indian mulberry, noni, beach mulberry, vomit fruit, awl tree, and cheese fruit.
Chayote or Sicyos edule, also known as christophine, mirliton and choko, is an edible plant belonging to the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. This fruit was first cultivated in Mesoamerica between southern Mexico and Honduras, with the most genetic diversity available in both Mexico and Guatemala. It is one of several foods introduced to the Old World during the Columbian Exchange. At that time, the plant spread to other parts of the Americas, ultimately causing it to be integrated into the cuisine of many Latin American nations.
The cuisine of Hawaii incorporates five distinct styles of food, reflecting the diverse food history of settlement and immigration in the Hawaiian Islands.[a]
Taro is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in African, Oceanic, East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cultures. Taro is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants.
Assamese cuisine is the cuisine of the Indian state of Assam. It is a style of cooking that is a confluence of cooking habits of the hills that favour fermentation and drying as forms of preservation and those from the plains that provide extremely wide variety of fresh vegetables and greens, and an abundance of fish and meat. Both are centred on the main ingredient — rice. It is a mixture of different indigenous styles with considerable regional variations and some external influences. The traditional way of cooking and the cuisine of Assam is very similar to South-East Asian countries such as Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and others. The cuisine is characterized by very little use of spices, little cooking over fire, and strong flavours due mainly to the use of endemic exotic fruits and vegetables that are either fresh, dried or fermented. Fish is widely used, and birds like duck, pigeon, squab, etc. are very popular, which are often paired with a main vegetable or ingredient; beef used to be eaten before British colonialism, and some continue to do so. Preparations are rarely elaborate. The practice of bhuna, the gentle frying of spices before the addition of the main ingredients so common in Indian cooking, is absent in the cuisine of Assam. The preferred oil for cooking is the pungent mustard oil.
The scarlet gourds are a genus with 25 species. It is distributed in sub-Saharan Africa and with one species, C. grandis also in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and it is also introduced into the New World. Incidentally, C. grandis is also a cultivated crop and it is used for culinary and medical purposes.
Tamil cuisine is a culinary style of Tamil people originating in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and neighboring Sri Lanka. Meats, along with rice, legumes, and lentils, are also popular. Dairy products and tamarind are used to provide sour flavors. On special occasions, traditional Tamil dishes are served in a traditional manner, using banana leaves in place of utensils. After eating, the banana leaves are then used as a secondary food for cattle. A typical breakfast meal consists of idli or dosa with chutney. Lunch includes rice, sambar, curd, kuzhambu, and rasam.
Gujarati cuisine is the cuisine of the Indian state of Gujarat. The typical Gujarati thali consists of rotli, dal or curry, rice, and shaak. The thali will also include preparations made from pulses or whole beans such as moong, black eyed beans etc., a snack item (farsaan) like dhokla, pathra, samosa, fafda, etc. and a sweet (mishthaan) like mohanthal, jalebi, sevaiya etc.
Sesbania grandiflora, commonly known as vegetable hummingbird, katurai, agati, or West Indian pea, is a small leguminous tree native to Maritime Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. It has edible flowers and leaves commonly eaten in Southeast Asia and South Asia.
Thai curry is a dish in Thai cuisine made from curry paste, coconut milk or water, meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit, and herbs. Curries in Thailand mainly differ from the curries in India in their use of ingredients such as fresh rhizomes, herbs, and aromatic leaves over a mix of dried spices.
Okinawan cuisine is the cuisine of the Okinawa Prefecture of Japan. The cuisine is also known as Ryūkyūan cuisine, a reference to the Ryukyu Kingdom. Due to differences in culture, historical contact between other regions, climate, vegetables and other ingredients, Okinawan cuisine differs from mainland Japanese cuisine.
Spondias dulcis, known commonly as June plum, is a tropical tree, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit. In the English-speaking Caribbean it is typically known as golden apple and elsewhere in the Caribbean as pommecythere or cythere. In Polynesia it is known as vī.
Piper sarmentosum is a plant in the family Piperaceae used in many Southeast Asian cuisines. The leaves are often confused with betel, but they lack the intense taste of the betel leaves and are significantly smaller.
Melittia oedipus, the African vine borer, is a moth of the family Sesiidae. It originates from Africa, but has been introduced in Hawaii to control ivy gourd.
Senegalia pennata, is a species of plant which is native to South and Southeast Asia. It is a shrub or small tropical tree which grows up to 5 metres (16 ft) in height. Its leaves are bipinnate with linear-oblong and glabrous pinnules. Its yellowish flowers are terminal panicles with globose heads. The pods are thin, flat and long with thick sutures.
Kaeng khae is a curry of northern Thai cuisine.