Cucumbers are very famous lean, green, and long garden vegetables. Scientifically, cucumbers are fruits from the same family as pumpkins and watermelons, but most people consider them as vegetables. Cucumbers natively grow in India, can be slightly bitter and have a little melon-like taste. There are usually two main types of cucumbers, i.e., slicing cucumbers and pickling cucumbers. Pickling cucumbers are much smaller in size and can be 3-7 inches long. The main use of pickling cucumbers is to make pickles. The distinctive characteristic of pickling cucumbers is that they have spines or bumps on their skin. While the slicing cucumbers are often present in the salads and are very fresh to eat. Slicing cucumbers are free of any bumps on their skin and have a milder taste.
Speaking of the nutritional quality of cucumbers, one serving of cucumber which is equal to half a cup gives 8 calories. There are small amounts of vitamin A and vitamin K in cucumbers and 95% of cucumbers consists of water. In addition to essential nutrients, cucumbers also have phytonutrients known as lignans. One medium-sized raw cucumber consists of 6 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of proteins, 0 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber and 30 calories. As we can see that cucumbers have a beautiful balance of macronutrients and does not contain any fat which is heart-healthy too. Considering the micronutrients, cucumbers have a decent amount of essential vitamins and nutrients in them.
Half cup un-peeled raw cucumbers provide 10% of the recommended daily value (DV) of vitamin C and 57% of the recommended daily value (DV) of vitamin K, thus giving ample amount of vitamins in such a small serving. While the same serving size of cucumbers gives 9% of the DV of magnesium, 9% of the DV of manganese and 12% of the DV of potassium. The significant balance of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants coming from phytonutrients makes cucumbers a highly nutritious vegetable to eat daily. Moreover, the excess amount of water present in cucumbers also maintains the hydration levels in the body and avoids the occurrence of constipation.