Is zucchini edible raw or dangerous?

Aromatic and popular. Zucchini is one of the favorites in your own vegetable patch due to the numerous preparation options. A wide variety of dishes, from a zucchini salad to ratatouille, can be made with the pumpkin plant. Since Cucurbita pepo var. giromontiina is a pumpkin plant, many people wonder about possible poisoning if the fruit vegetable is eaten raw. This article will tell you whether zucchini is edible raw or poisonous.

Zucchini dangerous?

Can zucchini be eaten raw? These are the questions many people ask themselves who either grow the fruit vegetable themselves or want to eat it raw for a zucchini salad or other dishes. No direct answer can be given in general, since possible toxicity depends on the ingredients. Not every form of Cucurbita pepo var. giromontiina has the same ingredients, which makes it important to take a closer look at them.

Ingredients clarify

  1. Cucurbitacins: The cucurbitacins are bitter substances, more precisely triterpenes, which mostly occur as glycosides. The substances have a toxic effect on the human body and trigger a large number of symptoms of poisoning. Since they cannot even be destroyed by heat, raw and cooked zucchini must not be eaten with the substances. Cucurbitacins can occur in large quantities.
  2. Vitamins: A big advantage of eating zucchini is the numerous vitamins. If you eat the fruit vegetable raw, the vitamins are not destroyed. This is one of the reasons why vegetables are so popular to eat uncooked. The vitamins it contains include B6, C, K and beta carotene.
  3. Minerals: In addition to vitamins, minerals should also be mentioned. Compared to the vitamins, these can be washed out during cooking, which reduces the content. In this case, eating it raw is a good idea. Calcium, iron and magnesium are included.

The dangerous substance in the zucchini are the cucurbitacins. Fortunately, these are not found in commercial zucchini, having been bred out of the plants for health reasons. It is precisely these specimens that you can eat raw without hesitation, as they are not dangerous or poisonous. How does vegetable poisoning come about? The next section addresses this point.

Note: In some cases, eating zucchini raw can lead to allergic reactions, which, depending on the intensity, can pose a great risk to those affected. The reason for this is a cross-allergy to latex or ragweed (bot. ragweed), which occurs in many people.

Toxic: cucurbitacins

If you’re going to eat zucchini raw, you need to know if it’s a non-toxic breed or not. Since Cucurbita pepo var. giromontiina belongs to the squash family, the species naturally contains the toxin, which would make consumption impossible. Over the centuries, people have cultivated zucchini and thus bred the cucurbitacins out of the fruiting vegetable. For this reason alone, the zucchini are edible and not poisonous. They can even be eaten raw without hesitation. On the other hand, courgettes that have undergone backcrossing for various reasons are not edible. This can happen due to the following causes.

Cultivation of homegrown seeds or pollination

When it comes to zucchini, many gardeners come up with the idea of ​​using seeds from their own specimens for further cultivation. A problem with this, however, is the fact that the fruiting vegetable from these seeds will in most cases contain cucurbitacins. This problem arises when growing ornamental gourds nearby. Ornamental gourds also contain high levels of the toxin and are therefore not suitable for consumption. However, Cucurbita pepo var. giromontiina can be pollinated by the pollen of these species, leading to the formation of the toxins. Therefore, always pay attention to the pumpkin plants in the immediate vicinity.

Stress

If zucchini are cultivated in a pot, stressful situations can arise that stimulate the formation of cucurbitans. This includes:

  • Transport
  • temperature fluctuations
  • strong exposure to heat
  • long storage times

As soon as the crop recovers, production is stopped again. This is only the case with zucchini plants from your own seed. As long as you buy seeds from stores, you don’t have to worry. Since these come from controlled cultivation, no cucurbitacins will be found in the fruits. Nevertheless, pay attention to the following points by which poisonous specimens can be recognized:

  • bitter taste
  • rough shell
  • resembles a pumpkin

Above all, the bitter taste is a sign of the toxic substances. If you are unsure, carefully try a tiny piece. If in doubt, discard the fruit.

Tip: If you’ve discovered bitter zucchini, you can safely dispose of them in the compost without worrying about the toxins. As the fruit rots, the cucurbitacins perish and the compost can be used.

symptoms of poisoning

If a zucchini is not edible because of the cucurbitacins, you have to reckon with symptoms of illness caused by the consumption. Since the bitter substances mainly affect digestion, more precisely the gastrointestinal tract, most of the symptoms relate to this area. Depending on the amount consumed, an intense reaction can occur, which can even intensify. If you have eaten a bitter zucchino and one of the following symptoms is recognizable, poisoning must be assumed:

  • nausea
  • Vomit
  • stomach cramps
  • intestinal cramps
  • diarrhea
  • damage to the intestines
  • damage to the stomach
  • mucosal injuries
  • at worst death

The damage to the stomach and intestines is particularly dangerous because, depending on the amount, they can quickly lead to complications. For this reason, it is important to see a doctor immediately if you suspect something. This is the only way to be on the safe side, because the toxins are by no means to be trifled with.

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