Evaluating Cucumber Fruit as a Health-giving Vegetable

Cucumber vegetable (Cucumis sativus L.) is one of the very widely cultivated agricultural crops not only in Turkey but in the World as well. Cucumber has become a very popular fruit especially, in the Western Countries due to its high water and low calorie contents. The vegetable has been using in traditional medicine in India and China since ancient times. The fruit cosmetically used for nourishing the skin. The fruit has a soothing effect against skin irritations, swellings and sunburns. The fruit also carries refrigerant, haemostatic and tonic properties. A number of bioactive compounds have been found in cucumbers including cucurbitacins, cucumegastigmanes I and II, cucumerin A and B, vitexin, orientin, etc. This review explores phytochemical and pharmacological facts of cucumber fruits and points out some their therapeutic potential