Luffa acutangula

Luffa acutangula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Luffa
Species:	L. acutangula
Binomial name
Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb.
Synonyms[1]
Cucumis acutangulus L. Cucumis lineatus Bosc Cucumis megacarpus G.Don Cucumis operculatus Roxb. ex Wight & Arn. Cucurbita acutangula (L.) Blume Luffa amara Roxb. Luffa drastica Mart. Luffa fluminensis Roem. Luffa foetida Cav. Luffa forskalii Schweinf. ex Harms Luffa gosa Ham. Momordica tubiflora Wall.

Luffa acutangula is commercially grown for its unripe fruits as a vegetable. Mature fruits are used as natural cleaning sponges. Its fruit slightly resembles a cucumber or zucchini with ridges. It ranges from central and eastern Asia to southeastern Asia. It is also grown as a houseplant in places with colder climates. English common names include angled luffa, Chinese okra, dish cloth gourd, ridged gourd, sponge gourd, vegetable gourd, strainer vine, ribbed loofah, silky gourd, ridged gourd, silk gourd,^[2][3][4] and sinkwa towelsponge.^[5]

Uses

The young fruit of some cultivars are used as cooked vegetables or pickled or eaten raw, and the shoots and flowers are sometimes also used.^[6] Like Luffa aegyptica, the mature fruits are harvested when dry and processed to remove all but the fruit fibre, which can then be used as a sponge or as fibre for making hats.^[6]

Names in other languages

• Assamese: জিকা (zika Assamese pronunciation: [zika])
• Bengali as jhingge (ঝিঙে) or jhinga (ঝিঙ্গা) ^[7][8][9]
• Burmese: ဗြူးဒါး [bjú dá]; also ပုံလုံ [bòʊɴ lòʊɴ]
• Hindi: तोरई, तुरई torai, turai
• Gujarati: તુરીયા turiya
• Kannada: Heere kayi
• Tagalog: Patola
• Khmer: ននោងជ្រុង ([nɔnooŋ cruŋ])
• Lao: ລອຽ ([lɔ́ːj]) or mark noy (ໝາກນອຍ)
• Vietnamese: mướp khía
• Tamil: peerkangai
• Telugu: beera kaaya
• Thai: บวบเหลี่ยม: buap liyam
• Marathi: दोडकी dodaki
• Konkani: gossale
• Indonesian: gambas, oyong
• Javanese: oyong
• Mandarin Chinese: 广东丝瓜 (pinyin: guǎngdōngsīguā)
• Cantonese Chinese: 絲瓜 or 勝瓜 sin qua or sing kwa(Australian spelling), Ling Jiao Si Gua, You Lin Si Gua, Sze Gwa, Sigwa,^[2][3]
• Hokkian: Kak kuey^[2]
• Malayalam: peechinga
• Malay: petola segi
• Sinhalese: වැටකොලු watakolu
• Japanese: ito uri, tokado hechima

References

1. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 21 November 2014.
2. M.M.P.N.D. - Sorting Luffa names. Plantnames.unimelb.edu.au (2000-02-06). Retrieved on 2014-05-26.
3. Luffa Angled. Kitazawaseed.com (2014-01-22). Retrieved on 2014-05-26.
4. Ridged Skin Luffa. Evergreenseeds.com. Retrieved on 2014-05-26.
5. "Luffa acutangula". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
6. Grubben, G.J.H.; Africa, P.R.o.T. (2004). Vegetables. Backhuys. ISBN 9789057821479.
7. Dash, N. S., (2005), Corpus linguistics and language technology: with reference to Indian languages, Mittal Publication, India, p. 188.
8. Niir Board, Compendium of medicinal plants, National Institute of Industrial Research, India, p. 358.
9. Ong, H. C., (2008), Vegetables for health and healing, Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, p. 30.