When the fruit ripenes, it turns red, unfortunately it becomes also very mushy. The tindola, as the fruit of the ivy gourd plant is called, is eaten as a fruit-vegetable. Ripe fruits can be candied. In tropical Asia the young shoots are also eaten.
The approximately 3-4 cm long, round-oval berries of the mouse melon resemble tiny water melons with their light and dark green mesh pattern, but they taste intensive like cucumbers.
The variety comes from Japan and is named after a Japanese tribe (隼 人, “Falcon-People”), who lived on the Kyūshū island during the Nara period.
Mainly, the bizarre fruits of the bitter melon are used, but the leaves are also edible…
Boiled, fried or filled and baked, the immature fruits are very appreciated because of their bitterness.
The red tissue, which encloses the poisonous seeds, tastes very sweet.
The horned cucumber or african horned melon is indeed related to cucumbers and melons. The green jelly inside tastes like a mixture of both, it is a bit sweet and has little acidity.
If the sponge gourd, which is also called vietnamese luffa, is still immature, its net-like tissue is not yet lignified and therefore soft and edible.
The rather large fruits are steamed, roasted, stewed and baked, they can be filled.
Almost all parts of the beautiful and fast-climbing stuffing cucumber are edible
Kaiser Alexander cucumbers at maturity have a dark brown skin with netting. At this stage, the fruit should be peeled before eating.
The Baby Boo pumpkin is hardly bigger than an apple. The firm skin is white, the firm flesh rather cream-coloured to pale orange.