The cucumber is a member of the botanical family Cucurbitaceae, along with honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon. Made up of 95 percent water, cucumbers are naturally low in calories, fat, cholesterol, and sodium.Like so many other plant-based foods, cucumbers originated in the Mediterranean, and were brought to the Americas by European explorers in the 1500s.Growing on a long, trailing vine, cucumbers come in two main categories: slicing cucumbers, which are generally larger and thick-skinned; and pickling cucumbers, which are smaller and thinner-skinned. Pickling usually involves slicing and soaking in brine (highly salted water) and vinegar to preserve and ferment the fruit.
Cucumbers are also known to be an excellent source of vitamins, including anti-inflammatory vitamin K, infection-fighting vitamin C, and energy-producing pantothenic acid (vitamin B5). Body-beneficial minerals include bone-building manganese, as well as potassium and magnesium, both good for your heart.“Cucumbers are naturally low in calories, carbohydrates, sodium, fat and cholesterol,” said Megan Ware, a registered dietitian nutritionist in Orlando, Florida. There are just 16 calories in a cup of cucumber with its peel (15 without). You will get about 4 percent of your daily potassium, 3 percent of your daily fiber and 4 percent of your daily vitamin C. They also “provide small amounts of vitamin K, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, manganese and vitamin A,”
The nutrient profiles provided in this website are derived from The Food Processor, Version 10.12.0, ESHA Research, Salem, Oregon, USA. Among the 50,000+ food items in the master database and 163 nutritional components per item, specific nutrient values were frequently missing from any particular food item. We chose the designation "--" to represent those nutrients for which no value was included in this version of the database.