Chayote
Taxonomy
The plant was first recorded by modern botanists in P.Browne’s 1756 work. In 1763 it was classified by Jacquin as Sicyos edulus and by Adanson as Chocho edulus. Swartz included it in 1800 in its current genus Sechium.
Description
Chayote inside
In the most common variety, the fruit is roughly pear shaped, somewhat flattened and with coarse wrinkles, ranging from 10 to 20 cm in length. It looks like a green pear and it has a thin green skin fused with the white flesh, and a single large flattened pit. The flesh has a fairly bland taste, and a texture described as a cross between a potato and a cucumber. Although generally discarded, the seed has a nutty flavour[citation needed] and may be eaten as part of the fruit.
Chayote vine can be grown on the ground, but it is a climbing plant that will grow onto anything and can easily rise as high as 12 meters when it can reach a tree or house. Its leaves are heart-shaped, 1025 cm wide and with tendrils on the stem. The flowers are cream-colored or somewhat green that come out beneath a leaf or branch. If the plant is male, the flowers will show in clusters. The plant fruit is light green and elongated with deep ridges lengthwise.
Culinary and medicinal uses
Ichintal (Chayote Root)
Although most people are familiar only with the fruit, the root, stem, seeds, and leaves are all edible.
The fruit does not need to be peeled and can be eaten raw in salads. Cooked or raw, it has a very mild flavor by itself, and is commonly served with seasonings (e.g., salt, butter and pepper in Australia) or in a dish with other vegetables and/or flavorings. It can also be boiled, stuffed, mashed, baked, fried, or pickled in escabeche sauce. Both fruit and seed are rich in amino acids and vitamin C. Fresh green fruit are firm and without brown spots or signs of sprouting. Smaller ones are more tender.
The tuberous part of the root is starchy and eaten like a yam (can be fried). It can be used as pig or cattle fodder as well as being eaten by humans.
The leaves and fruit have diuretic, cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory properties, and a tea made from the leaves has been used in the treatment of arteriosclerosis and hypertension, and to dissolve kidney stones.
In Taiwan, chayotes are widely planted for their shoots, known as lng x ci (, literally “dragon-whisker vegetable”). Along with the young leaves, the shoot is a commonly consumed vegetable in the region.
Many cultures have found that if the harvest of chayote is abundant, it is cheaper to use it as food for pigs or cattle than the usual commercial feed.
Myths
In Australia, where it is called choko, a persistent rumour has existed that McDonald’s Apple Pies were made of chokos, not apples. This eventually led McDonald’s to emphasise the fact that real apples are used in their pies. This legend was based on an earlier belief that tinned pears were often disguised chokos. A possible explanation for the rumour is that there are a number of recipes extant in Australia, that advise chokos can be used in part replacement of canned apples to make the fruit go farther, in making apple pies. This likely arose because of shortages of canned fruit in the years following World War Two, coupled with the fact apples do not grow in many tropical and sub-tropical parts of Australia and were therefore difficult to obtain.
Due to its purported cell-regenerative properties, it is believed as a contemporary legend that this fruit caused the mummification of people from the Colombian town of San Bernardo who extensively consumed it. The very well preserved skin and flesh can be seen in the mummies today.[citation needed]
Alternative names
Chayote (English pronunciation: /toti/ ( listen)) is the Spanish name of the plant, from Nahuatl: hitzayotli (pronounced [itsajoti]). It is used in many parts of Spanish-speaking Latin America and in the US. Worldwide, it is known by many other names:
Africa
Mauritius: chouchou
Runion Island: chouchou
Madagascar: saosety
Malawi: shushu
Seychelles: sousout
South Africa: chouchou
America
Barbados: christophene
Brazil: chuchu
Belize: “cho-cho”
English Caribbean: christoferine, christophene, cho-cho
Colombia: Guatila (Cundinamarca) Guasquilla (Boyac) or Sidra (Caldas). Another popular and vulgar name is papa de los pobres (Spanish for ‘potatoes of the poor’)
Dominican Republic and Nicaragua: tayota [ta’jta]
El Salvador: “gisquil”
French Antilles: christophene, christophine
Guatemala-El Salvador-Honduras: The dark green variety is labeled gisquil, the yellowish-white variety perulero and the more common light-green variety pataste.
Haiti: mirliton
Jamaica: “chocho”, “Chow Chow”
Latin America: gayota
Louisiana (Cajun, Creole, English): mirliton (sometimes spelled merliton) but pronounced in New Orleans and surrounding parishes as “mel-a-tawn”
United States of America: Slang term old people lips
Paraguay: Papa del aire
Panama: “Chayote”
Asia
China (Cantonese): fut sao gwa (lit. Buddha hand melon), hup jeung gwa (lit. closed palm melon)
China (Mandarin): (pinyin: f shu gu, lit. “Buddha hand melon”)
Hmong of Laos: “Taub Thaj” (Tau tah), “Taub Maum” (Tau Mau)
India (Kannada): Seemae BaDhneKayi ( )
India (Tamil): “chocho” or “Chow Chow” (Tamil: ), “bengaluru katharikkai” (Tamil: )
India (Darjeeling): Ishkus
India (Manipur): DasGoos
Indonesia: labu siam (lit. Siamese pumpkin), jipang or waluh (Jav.), ljt (Sun.)
Japan: hayatouri ()
Malaysia: English cucumber
Myanmar: gorakha thee (lit. Gurkha fruit)
Nepal: iskus
Philippines: sayote
Thailand: fuk maew
Vietnamese: su su, trai su (tri su)
Sri Lanka: “Chocho”
Europe
Croatia: meksiki krastavac
Czech republic: ajot
Finland: Kajottikurpitsa
France: christophine
Italy: zucca centenaria
Malta: entinarja
Norway: chavote
Poland: kolczoch jadalny
Portugal: chuchu, xuxu, pimpinela
Russian: chayot,
Slovenia: ajota
Turkey: “dikenli kabak” , “kbrs kaba” , “amck kaba”
Oceania
Australia and New Zealand: choko
Hawaii: pipinola
Other places
English-speaking countries: chouchou, chocho, cho-cho, mango squash, vegetable pear[citation needed]
Gallery
Perulero (yellowish-white variety)
Sprouting chayote, showing reproductive process of this plant
A dish made with chayote shoots
See also
List of vegetables
Araujia sericifera, a toxic weed that is often described as “choko-like”.
Notes
^ Browne, Patrick (1756), Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, http://www.brunias.com/bookinfo.html#ref341, retrieved 2007-03-19
^ a b Rafael Lira Saade. 1996 p.29
^ Gourmet Sleuth
References
Rafael Lira Saade. 1996. Chayote Sechium edule (Jacq.) Sw. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 8. Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Gatersleben/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, Italy. ISBN 92-9043-298-5 available in pdf format
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chayote
neglected crops – Chayote
Chayote & Beef Soup Recipe
GROW CHAYOTE (AND DINE LIKE AN AZTEC, November/December 1980
Categories: Fruit vegetables | Leaf vegetables | Tropical agriculture | Cucurbitaceae | Flora of Jamaica | Flora of Mexico | Crops originating from the Americas | Native crops of Mexico | Medicinal plants | Underutilized crops | Vietnamese ingredients | Puerto Rican ingredientsHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from September 2009 | Articles with unsourced statements from November 2007 | Articles containing non-English language text | Articles containing Tamil language text | Articles containing Russian language text | Articles with unsourced statements from April 2009
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