Bitter zucchini can ruin a delicious meal and cause severe stomach upset. The bitter taste is usually caused by cross-pollination and can be prevented in a couple of different ways.
Did bitter zucchini surprise an enjoyable meal with its unpleasant taste?
If the zucchini picked from your own garden or purchased at the store tastes bitter, it’s a good idea to move the plate aside and leave the food uneaten.
Executive director of the utility plant association Katja Uski says that the bitter and bitter taste of zucchini is caused by a compound called cucurbitacin.
Bitterness is usually caused by cross-pollination
According to Uski, the most common reason for the bitter taste of zucchini is cross-pollination. Cucurbitacin-containing pollen from decorative squash has been introduced into the summer squash with insects.
“One of the reasons could be that there is a cross-pollinated pumpkin seed growing in the garden, which may already contain the gene that causes bitterness,” says Uski.
A bitter taste can sometimes be caused by farming techniques. Zucchini have been fertilized a lot and watered too little. Hot and dry summers can have an effect. In these cases, the cause of bitterness is not cucurbitacin.
Cucurbitazine is most abundant in ornamental pumpkins, but other plants in the cucumber family, such as cucumbers and cantaloupe melons, may also contain the compound.
Read also: Growing a pumpkin step by step – you want to read these tips from the conker
Bitter zucchini should not be eaten
If zucchini tastes bitter, you should definitely not eat it.
Cucurbitazine affects the digestive system and can cause, among other things, digestive problems, diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps or vomiting.
Eating bitter zucchini can be especially dangerous for the elderly and small children, as the stomach symptoms can be severe. For example, diarrhea and vomiting can remove a lot of fluid from the body and in the worst case cause a trip to the hospital.
There is no way to remove the bitter taste from zucchini. If the zucchini is bitter, the game is practically lost, according to Uski.
Uski advises to always taste the zucchini before cooking, so that the food is not spoiled due to bitterness.
“However, there is no need to be afraid of growing summer squash. Zucchini is safe to eat, as long as it doesn’t taste bitter,” Uski emphasizes.
Read also Anna.fi: Zucchini fetagratin is the most delicious delicacy of the zucchini season
The bitterness of zucchini can be prevented
You can try to prevent cross-pollination in your own garden by growing zucchini clearly separated from other pumpkins and cucumber plants or by growing only zucchini.
Cross-pollination depends on insect flight paths, which are impossible to predict.
Another option is to pollinate the zucchini yourself, which ensures that they have been pollinated with pollen from the same plant.
You can cover the zucchini soil with cheesecloth, but since the plant is pollinated by insects, you have to do the pollination yourself.
Bitter zucchini is a nuisance that occurs less often
If you grow bitter zucchini in your vegetable garden, you can put it in the compost to land, for example.
According to Uski, bitter zucchini have been bothering gardeners for years, but not much has been said about them.
“Bitterness occurs in summer squash every now and then. This is not a very common phenomenon. It is not excluded that cucurbitacin can also be present in other cucumber plants.”
Source: kotiliesi.fi
