Calabash
Calabash | |
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Green calabash growing on its vine | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Cucurbitales |
Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
Genus: | Lagenaria |
Species: | L. siceraria
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Binomial name | |
Lagenaria siceraria | |
Synonyms[1] | |
List
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Calabash (/ˈkæləbæʃ/;[2] Lagenaria siceraria), also known as bottle gourd,[3] white-flowered gourd,[4] long melon, birdhouse gourd,[5] New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean,[6] and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed as a vegetable, or harvested mature to be dried and used as a utensil, container, or a musical instrument. When it is fresh, the fruit has a light green smooth skin and white flesh.
Calabash fruits have a variety of shapes: they can be huge and rounded, small and bottle-shaped, or slim and serpentine, and they can grow to be over a metre long. Rounder varieties are typically called calabash gourds. The gourd was one of the world's first cultivated plants grown not primarily for food, but for use as containers. The bottle gourd may have been carried from Asia to Africa, Europe, and the Americas in the course of human migration,[7] or by seeds floating across the oceans inside the gourd. It has been proven to have been globally domesticated (and existed in the New World) during the Pre-Columbian era.
There is sometimes confusion when discussing "calabash" because the name is shared with the unrelated calabash tree (Crescentia cujete), whose hard, hollow fruits are also used to make utensils, containers, and musical instruments.[8]
Etymology
The English word calabash is loaned from Middle French calebasse, which in turn derived from Spanish calabaza meaning gourd or pumpkin. It is either loaned from Arabic قَرْعَةٌ يَابِسَةٌ (qarʕatun yābisatun, “dry gourd”) or directly from its etymon Persian خربزه (xarboze, “melon”).[9][10] The English word is cognate with Catalan carabassa (“pumpkin; orange colour”), Galician cabaza (“gourd, pumpkin, squash; calabash (container)”), Occitan calebasso, carabasso, carbasso, Portuguese cabaça (“gourd; calabash (container)”) and Sicilian caravazza (and caramazza).[citation needed]
History
The bottle gourd has been recovered from archaeological contexts in China and Japan dating to ca. 8,000–9,000 B.P.,[11] whereas in Africa, despite decades of high-quality archaeobotanical research, the earliest record of its occurrence remains the 1884 report of a bottle gourd being recovered from a 12th Dynasty tomb at Thebes dating to ca. 4,000 B.P.[11] When considered together, the genetic and archaeological information points toward L. siceraria being independently brought under domestication first in Asia, and more than 4,000 years later, in Africa.[11] The bottle gourd is a commonly
Gourds were cultivated in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas for thousands of years before
The mystery of the bottle gourd – namely that this African or Eurasian species was being grown in the Americas over 8,000 years ago[18] – comes from the difficulty in understanding how it arrived in the Americas. The bottle gourd was theorized to have drifted across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to South America, but in 2005 a group of researchers suggested that it may have been domesticated earlier than food crops and livestock and, like dogs, was brought into the New World at the end of the ice age by the native hunter-gatherer Paleo-Indians, which they based on a study of the genetics of archaeological samples. This study purportedly showed that gourds in American archaeological finds were more closely related to Asian variants than to African ones.[7]
In 2014 this theory was repudiated based on a more thorough genetic study. Researchers more completely examined the plastid genomes of a broad sample of bottle gourds, and concluded that North and South American specimens were most closely related to wild African variants and could have drifted over the ocean several or many times, as long as 10,000 years ago.[19]
Cultivation
Bottle gourds are grown by direct sowing of seeds or transplanting 15- to 20-day-old seedlings. The plant prefers well-drained, moist, organic rich soil. It requires plenty of moisture in the growing season and a warm, sunny position, sheltered from the wind. It can be cultivated in small places such as in a pot, and allowed to spread on a trellis or roof. In rural areas, many houses with thatched roofs are covered with the gourd vines. Bottle gourds grow very rapidly and their stems can reach a length of 9 m in the summer, so they need a solid support along the stem if they are to climb a pole or trellis. If planted under a tall tree, the vine may grow up to the top of the tree. To obtain more fruit, farmers sometimes cut off the tip of the vine when it has grown to 6–8 feet in length. This forces the plant to produce side branches that will bear flowers and yield more fruit.
The plant produces night blooming white flowers. The male flowers have long peduncles and the females have short ones with an ovary in the shape of the fruit. Sometimes the female flowers drop off without growing into a gourd due to the failure of pollination if there is no night pollinator (probably a kind of moth) in the garden. Hand pollination can be used to solve the problem. Pollens are around 60 microns in length.
First crop is ready for harvest within two months; first flowers open in about 45 days from sowing. Each plant can yield 1 fruit per day for the next 45 days if enough nutrients are available.
Yield ranges from 35 to 40 tons/ha, per season of 3 months cycle.
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Pear-shaped bottle gourd in Seoul, Korea
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Slim, elongated upo squash, in San Rafael, Bulacan, Philippines
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A female Calabash flower with a visible ovary at night, in West Bengal, India.
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Crook-necked "geese" cultivar in Granville Island Public Market, Canada
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Serpentine snake gourds in Media, Pennsylvania, United States
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Calabash flower
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Calabash seeds
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Collection of bowls and spoons made of bottle gourd from Mali, 2007
Toxicity
Like other members of the family
The plant is not normally toxic when eaten. The excessively bitter (and toxic) gourds are due to improper storage (temperature swings or high temperature) and over-ripening.[23]
Nutrition
Boiled calabash is 95% water, 4%
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
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Energy | 63 kJ (15 kcal) |
3.69 g | |
Dietary fiber | 1.2 g |
0.02 g | |
0.6 g | |
Niacin (B3) | 2% 0.39 mg |
Pantothenic acid (B5) | 3% 0.144 mg |
Vitamin B6 | 2% 0.038 mg |
Folate (B9) | 1% 4 μg |
Vitamin C | 9% 8.5 mg |
Minerals | Quantity %DV† |
Calcium | 2% 24 mg |
Iron | 1% 0.25 mg |
Magnesium | 3% 11 mg |
Manganese | 3% 0.066 mg |
Phosphorus | 1% 13 mg |
Potassium | 6% 170 mg |
Sodium | 0% 2 mg |
Zinc | 6% 0.7 mg |
Other constituents | Quantity |
Water | 95 g |
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[25] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[26] |
Culinary uses
Central America
In Central America the seeds of the bottle gourd are toasted and ground with other ingredients (including rice, cinnamon, and allspice) to make one type of the drink horchata.
East Asia
China
The calabash is frequently used in southern Chinese cuisine in either a stir-fry dish or a soup.
Japan
In Japan, it is commonly sold in the form of dried, marinated strips known as kanpyō and is used as an ingredient for making makizushi (rolled sushi).
Korea
Traditionally in Korea, the inner flesh has been eaten as namul vegetable and the outside cut in half to make bowls. Both fresh and dried flesh of bak is used in Korean cuisine. Fresh calabash flesh, scraped out, seeded, salted and squeezed to draw out moisture, is called baksok. Scraped and sun-dried calabash flesh, called bak-goji, is usually soaked before being stir-fried. Soaked bak-goji is often simmered in sauce or stir-fried before being added to japchae and gimbap.[27][28] Sometimes uncooked raw baksok is seasoned to make saengchae.
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Bak-namul (seasoned calabash side dish)
Southeast Asia
Burma
In Burma, it is a popular fruit. The young leaves are also boiled and eaten with a spicy, fermented fish sauce. It can also be cut up, coated in batter and deep fried to make
Philippines
In the Philippines, calabash (known locally as upo) is commonly cooked in soup dishes like tinola. They are also common ingredients in noodle (pancit) dishes.
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Upo withsotanghon
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Upo being sauteed (ginisa)
Vietnam
In
The shoots, tendrils, and leaves of the plant may also be eaten as greens.
South Asia
India
A popular north Indian dish is lauki chana, (
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh the fruit is served with rice as a common dish.
Nepal
In Nepal, in the
.Pakistan
In Pakistan, the calabash is cultivated on a large scale as its fruit are a popular vegetable.
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, it is used in combination with rice to make a variety of milk rice, which is a popular dish in Sri Lanka.
Europe
Italy
In Southern Italy and Sicily, the variety Lagenaria siceraria var. longissima, called zucca da vino, zucca bottiglia, or cucuzza, is grown and used in soup or along with pasta.
In Sicily, mostly in the Palermo area, a traditional soup called "Minestra di Tenerumi" is made with the tender leaves of var. Longissima along with peeled tomato and garlic. The young leaves are themselves called "tenerumi", and Lagenaria in Sicily is cultivated both professionally and in home orchards mostly to use the leaves as a vegetable, the fruit being treated almost as a secondary product.[30]
It is also grown by the Italian diaspora.[31]
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Man with cucuzza
Cultural uses
Africa
Hollowed-out and dried calabashes are a very typical utensil in households across West Africa. They are used to clean rice, carry water, and as food containers. Smaller sizes are used as bowls to drink
Calabash also has a large cultural significance. In many African legends, Calabash (commonly referred to as gourds) are presented as a vessel for knowledge and wisdom.[34]
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Calabashes (nkalu inKikongo) are used to collect and store palm wine in Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo(c. 1990)
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The Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté with his instrument (2007)
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Calabash puppet (Marionette) (2020)
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The African percussion calabash (2017)
China
The húlu (
Dried calabash were also used as containers for liquids, often liquors or medicines. Calabash gourds were also grown in earthen molds to form different shapes with imprinted floral or arabesque designs. Molded gourds were also dried to house pet crickets. The texture of the gourd lends itself nicely to the sound of the insect, much like a musical instrument. The musical instrument, hulusi, is a kind of flute made from the gourd.[clarification needed]
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A Qing dynasty cricket cage
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A bottle gourd
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A hulusi, the calabash gourd flute or bottle gourd flute
Jewish culture
In the
Polynesia
The plant is spread throughout Polynesia known by hue in many related languages.[39]
In Hawaii the word "calabash" refers to a large serving bowl, usually made from hardwood rather than from the calabash gourd, which is used on a buffet table or in the middle of the dining table. The use of the calabash in Hawaii has led to terms like "calabash family" or "calabash cousins", indicating an extended family grown up around shared meals and close friendships. This gourd is often dried when ripe and used as a percussion instrument called an ipu heke (double gourd drum) or just Ipu in contemporary and ancient hula.
The Māori people of New Zealand grew several cultivars of calabash for particular uses like ipu kai cultivars as food containers and tahā wai cultivars as water gourds. They believed the gourd as a representation of Pū-tē-hue, one of Tāne (their god of forests)'s offspring.[40]
India/Bangladesh
The calabash is used as a resonator in many string instruments in India. Instruments that look like guitars are made of wood, but can have a calabash resonator at the end of the strings table, called toomba. The
These toombas are made of dried calabash gourds, using special cultivars that were originally imported from Africa and Madagascar. They are mostly grown in Bengal and near Miraj, Maharashtra. These gourds are valuable items and they are carefully tended; for example, they are sometimes given injections to stop worms and insects from making holes in them while they are drying.
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Sitars and one rudra veena (down right)
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Saraswati veena, the calabash resonator is not always functional but it is kept in place because of the balancing effect.[44]
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Rudra veena is a large plucked string instrument used in Hindustani classical music. One of the major types of veena played in Indian classical music, it has two calabash gourd resonators.[44] The vichitra veena, also with two large resonators, is a similar instrument.
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Ektara (one string) resonator made from a calabash gourd
In parts of India a dried, unpunctured gourd is used as a float (called surai-kuduvai in Tamil) to help people learn to swim in rural areas.
Philippines
In the Philippines, dried calabash gourds are one common material for making a traditional salakot hat.[46]
In 2012, Teófilo García of Abra in Luzon, an expert artisan who makes the Ilocano tamburaw variant using calabash, was awarded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts with the "Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan" (National Living Treasures Award). He was cited for his dedication to practising and teaching the craft as an intangible cultural heritage of the Philippines under the Traditional Craftsmanship category.[46]
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Salakot in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Money Museum, with the bottom one made from calabash
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Salakot from the Philippines (c.1900), the top one is made from calabash
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Bust of Diego Silang, the 18th-century Ilocano revolutionary leader, shown wearing a tamburaw made from gourd
New Guinea
Among some New Guinea highland tribes, the calabash is used by men as a penis sheath.
South America
In Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and southern Brazil, calabash gourds are dried and carved into mates (from the
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L. siceraria "mate" type.
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Mate carved and decorated as a drinking container (also called mate, and the infusion also called mate).
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Mate burilado in Peru
In Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador calabash gourds are used for medicinal purposes. The
North America
Calabash's watertight features allowed it to be often used as container to ship seeds across the translantic slave trade.[34] They were also used by enslaved people to carry seeds for planting on plantation fields.[34] On plantations that held enslaved African Americans, the Calabash symbolized freedom—as alluded to in the song "Follow the Drinking Gourd" that referenced the Big Dipper constellation that was used to guide the Underground Railroad.[34]
Other uses
Tobacco smoking pipe
The gourd can be dried and used to smoke pipe
Enema equipment
The gourd is used traditionally to administer enemas. Along the upper Congo River an enema apparatus is made by making a hole in one end of the gourd for filling it, and using a resin to attach a hollow cane to the gourd's neck.[49]
References
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External links
- How Bottle Gourds were brought to America by Native Americans
- Multilingual taxonomic information at the University of Melbourne
- Calabashes used for flotation and to store fish during huge Nigerian fish festival
- Brief discussion of the species, uses, ecology, and etymology of generic and specific names Archived 6 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine