Is the Cucurbitaceae vegetable bottle gourd poisonous, and how to neutralize the poison after accidentally eating bitter bottle gourd?

Bottle gourd (pinyin: hù zi), also called water gourd, calabash gourd, night-blooming gourd, pu gourd, sweet gourd, tian hu, hu gua, jing jie chui, long mi gua, tian gua, chang hu, bian pu, is a species in the genus Lagenaria of the Cucurbitaceae family and is a common vegetable. So is the bottle gourd poisonous? How do you neutralize the poison after accidentally eating bitter bottle gourd?

Is the bottle gourd poisonous?

Bottle gourd is divided into two types, sweet bottle gourd and bitter bottle gourd. What people usually eat is the sweet bottle gourd. The sweet bottle gourd is rich in nutrients and is a vegetable that city residents enjoy eating in summer. There is also a bitter bottle gourd, and the bitter bottle gourd cannot be eaten. Recently, a man in his sixties ate a bottle gourd he had grown himself and then suffered vomiting and diarrhea, and was actually diagnosed with food poisoning.

Why does the bottle gourd cause poisoning?

The bottle gourd contains a large amount of sugar, protein, organic acids and various vitamins, and is one of the vegetables commonly eaten in summer. Generally, bottle gourds are not bitter.

It contains protein and various trace elements, which help strengthen the body's immune function. However, bottle gourds are divided into bitter bottle gourds and sweet bottle gourds, and their shapes are similar and hard to distinguish. The bitter bottle gourd contains the plant toxin cucurbitacin, and its toxicity is not easily broken down even after cooking; eating even a small amount by mistake can cause poisoning. At present there is no specific treatment drug for bitter bottle gourd poisoning, and treatment mainly relies on inducing vomiting, diuresis and symptomatic management.

How do you neutralize the poison after accidentally eating bitter bottle gourd?

Generally, symptoms of bitter bottle gourd poisoning appear 1-2 hours after eating. In mild cases, symptoms include dry mouth, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and drowsiness; in severe cases, symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, dehydration and bloody stools, and it can even be life-threatening. Once poisoning occurs from accidentally eating bitter bottle gourd, drink plenty of water or milk, and deal with it by inducing vomiting and diuresis; you can also drink plenty of strong tea so as to expel as much of the toxin from the body as possible, and seek medical treatment as early as possible. In addition, thoroughly wash clean the tableware in the home that came into contact with the bitter bottle gourd.

Editor's reminder

Therefore, in order to avoid accidentally eating bitter bottle gourd, once a bottle gourd is found to be bitter, you must immediately stop eating it; if there are symptoms of poisoning, seek medical treatment promptly. A normal fresh, tender bottle gourd does not taste bitter after cooking. A bitter bottle gourd must not be eaten, and its seeds and flesh must not be eaten either, as they will cause food poisoning. Before eating bottle gourd at home, it is best to touch the peeled bottle gourd flesh with your tongue; if it is bitter, it is poisonous and must not be eaten. If a cooked bottle gourd is found to be bitter, it should be thrown away together with the other food in the pot to prevent a poisoning incident. Once food poisoning occurs, go to the hospital for treatment immediately.

How do you correctly select bottle gourd?How do you identify poisonous bottle gourd?

For eating, bottle gourd is divided into sweet bottle gourd and bitter bottle gourd. Bitter bottle gourd and sweet bottle gourd are hard to tell apart by appearance, but many bitter bottle gourds are shaped like incandescent light bulbs. Some have uneven, bumpy surfaces, contain cucurbitacin toxin, and have a bitterness like coptis. In addition, before eating bottle gourd, city residents should taste it with the tip of the tongue to check whether it is bitter; if it is bitter, it must not be eaten.

The benefits and effects of bottle gourd

Bottle gourd has a certain effect on the body's growth and development and on maintaining the body's physiological functions. It contains a large amount of sugar, protein, organic acids and various vitamins, and is a vegetable that city residents enjoy eating in summer. It also contains an interferon inducer, which can stimulate the body to produce interferon, improve the body's immunity, and play an antiviral and antitumor role, and it is suitable for the general population to eat.

Who is bottle gourd suitable for?

Bottle gourd can be eaten by the general population, and is especially suitable for people with low immunity, high blood sugar, and cancer patients to eat more of. Eating more bottle gourd in the regular diet still has many benefits for the human body, so it is suggested that people who do not like eating bottle gourd can eat a little appropriately to balance their diet.

Bottle gourd recipes

Bottle gourd with garlic

1. Slice the bottle gourd;

2. Prepare the garlic and chop the garlic finely;

3. Heat oil in a pan and first add the garlic and stir-fry;

4. Then add the bottle gourd and stir-fry;

5. Add salt; when the bottle gourd is cooked until soft, it is done;

6. Plate and serve.

Notes

Suitable group: The general population can eat bottle gourd. It is especially suitable for people with low immunity, high blood sugar, and cancer patients to eat more bottle gourd.

Contraindicated group: People with deficiency-cold of the spleen and stomach and diarrhea should avoid eating too much bottle gourd.